My Nightmare
by FreyasWrath
Summary: Five years after the gang escapes the Edison Group, a new threat arises. An ambush on their new home forces them apart, leaving Derek and Lauren to deal with the leader of the group after them now. He's sadistic and cunning. And very dangerous.
1. When Wishes Don't Come True

**Summary: Chloe's life is ripped apart by a surprise attack from the newly reformed Edison Group, still searching for them and still out to kill Derek or at least use him and capture the others. - Set five years in the future. Rated T for now. **

**I really shouldn't be starting another story but I just got this idea and I really really wanted to show it to you guys…on the plus side it won't be too much longer until Comfort From A Nightmare is complete and hopefully Their Choices too. Definitely Comfort though. Oh and, incase anyone cares, I'm deleting my crossover.**

**Unless it is absolutely necessary for me to tell something from someone else's point of view, the story is going to be told completely by Chloe.**

**Anyways, hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: DP is Kelley Armstrong's idea. I'm just playing with some characters.**

**When Wishes Don't Come True**

**Chloe POV**

"Derek? Tori? Simon?" I called walking down the upstairs hallway of our new temporary home. "Guys? Where are you?"

I knew that Kit and my aunt had left about half an hour ago. We needed groceries and they figured we were capable of staying here on our own. But in the last five years we had proved there were many things we were capable of doing on our own. And we had learned more than enough to keep ourselves safe if need be.

But, I had no idea where those three were. I padded down the stairs and headed for the kitchen, mainly looking for Derek in there. I let out a frustrated sigh when I didn't find anyone.

"Where are you guys?" I mumbled staring out the kitchen window into the back yard.

"Behind you." Derek's voice rumbled.

I jumped and spun to face him.

"You didn't check in the basement." he said stepping closer to me.

"That's because I don't like it down there. You know that."

He nodded. "I know."

"So, why were _you _guys down there?"

"Oh, no reason in particular."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't believe you."

He shrugged. "You don't have to believe me. I'm not telling you what we were doing."

"Oh. Gee, thanks."

"Sorry."

I turned back to the window, ignoring him.

He came forward and wrapped his arms around my waist. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing. Hmm." I felt his breath on my neck. "That's good." He kissed my neck and stepped back.

"That's good? Explain?"

"No."

I sighed and looked over my shoulder. Derek was already gone; making a silent and hasty retreat.

The front door banged open and Kit and Aunt Lauren stumbled into the house both carrying an arm full of groceries. They set them on the kitchen table then Kit disappeared into the basement too.

"Chloe, can you put these away?" Aunt Lauren asked.

"Sure? Are you going to help?" I asked pulling a few boxes of macaroni out of one of the bags.

"Sorry, no." Then she darted down the basement stairs too.

"It's great to know that no one is going to let Chloe in on this little secret." I grumbled.

I would have gone downstairs to figure it out for myself but I hate it down there. I'm not sure why. It's not like I hate the place because there a corpse or a ghost down there or in this house in general, but the basement scares me. I have no idea how Simon can sleep down there.

When I finished putting the groceries away an idea struck me. They are all keeping a secret from me and my birthday is tomorrow…

Oh not again.

The last time they threw a surprise party we broke the dining room table and then got icing and soda all over our couch. I don't even know how all that happened. Apparently they forgot about that though, if they truly were planning a party for me. Whether they were planning a party or not, I wasn't really that excited to turn twenty tomorrow.

I finished putting the groceries away and headed into the living room to grab a book. I sat on the floor staring at the bookshelf, trying to find a book and just thinking.

We'd stayed in run of the mill hotels for a little while until Kit and Aunt Lauren had decided we could start renting small homes, without leaving a paper trail of course. But every time someone came closer to finding out where we were, we had to leave again. That was the reason we were only renting.

One day I was hoping to actually settle down and live my life with my friends and with Derek, but I couldn't say when that would be. It seemed whenever we got comfortable in a new place we had to uproot ourselves and move. That sucked and made finding a new part-time job hell.

We'd been in so many cities in New York that I had lost count of them all and, sadly, forgotten the names of a few. A couple of times we had even found places in Pennsylvania and Connecticut but we hadn't gone very far from the New York border. Tori suggested we go to California once or Washington. Just somewhere on the west coast. Her idea was shot down and we were told to follow Kit and my aunt no matter where they went.

I was getting tired of that. Derek and Simon too. But we still weren't up to questioning why we were still staying around New York.

This time we found a house to rent in the outskirts of the city of Elmira. The house was a bit larger than we were used to, as were the rest of the houses surrounding us, but I guess hiding in plain sight could be a good thing.

At times.

At the moment I wish Liz was with us. She came and went. I think she was just checking on things with her family. Of course if she was here, she would probably be listening to them plan their little secret instead of talking to me.

Sighing, I grabbed one of my favorite books, Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream Chaser, and headed out to the deck to read and watch the sun go down.

Around eight, Derek cracked the back door open. "There you are." he said slipping through the doorway and joining me on the deck.

"Hey, Mr. Secretive is here. Hello Mr. Secretive, what would you like?"

"Funny." he said, a lopsided grin on his face. "I was just trying to find you."

"Why? You haven't wanted to be around me all day. What could possibly give you the motivation to spend time with me now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've spent practically the whole day in the basement, that's what I mean." I said gesturing to the house.

"Oh. That."

I scoffed. "Yeah. _That._" I marked my place in my book and closed it.

"Well-" Derek offered me his hand. "Let me make it up to you."

I sighed and placed my hand in his, wondering how he was going to 'make it up to me'. He took my book from me once we were back inside and set it on the kitchen counter.

"How are you going to make it up to me?" I asked when Derek led me out of the kitchen to the staircase.

He turned and gently kissed my lips. "You'll see."

"Yeah. Sure I will."

He smiled and led me upstairs to our room. Everyone had agreed that we should have the master bedroom because we needed more space. Neither Derek nor I complained about that.

He closed and locked the door so no one would disturb us.

The next morning I awoke around nine with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Whoever was talking in the hall outside the room caused me to wake up, not that I minded. I needed to get up anyway. Derek was gone and I began to wonder where he went when I realized that one of the people outside of our room was him. The others were Simon and Tori.

"Just keep her occupied until we can get everything set up. That's not hard to do Derek." Tori said sounding slightly irritated.

"And if she doesn't want to stay in there?" Derek asked.

"What part of make her don't you get?"

Obviously they had been talking before I woke up.

"Tori, chill. Just keep her upstairs okay. We'll come get you guys when we are done." Simon said.

"Fine." Derek grumbled. He sounded as though keeping me upstairs was going to be harder than operating on someone's brain or harder than putting a man on the moon was at the time.

I rolled over, making it so my back was to the door. Maybe Derek would think I was still asleep when he came back in.

The door opened and even though I couldn't hear Derek walking I knew he had come back into the room. The bed dipped from Derek's weight as he sat next to me. He laid down and draped one arm over my waist.

"I know you're awake."

I sighed and opened my eyes. "How?"

"You're breathing is different." He pressed his hand against my bare stomach and pulled me against his chest. "You should think about getting up and showering."

"Why? I don't want to face the day. So, it's my birthday. It's really just another year we have survived being on the run. At least it feels that way to me."

He kissed my shoulder. "I'm sorry you feel that way. But today could be fun if you let it."

I didn't say anything to him, just slipped out of the bed and out of his grasp so I could bathe and brush my teeth. Twenty minutes later I was standing at the foot of our bed, wrapped up in a towel. I couldn't decide what to wear.

There was a knock on the door then, without waiting to find out if it was okay to enter, Tori opened the door and poked her head in.

"Tori!"

"Chill out Chloe. Derek, bring her down." She glanced at me. "You know, when she's dressed and all. Incase you didn't catch the hint Chloe, hurry up." She pulled her head back and closed the door.

"Derek, can you grab me a pair of jeans?" I asked while pushing aside tee shirts in my dresser. It was silent for a moment then I heard the clicking of hangers.

Derek appeared by my side with a pair of plain dark jeans just as I pulled a black and gray striped sweater from the drawer I was looking in. I pulled the sweater on before addressing Derek.

"Go tell them I'll be down in a few minutes."

He nodded but didn't move.

"Derek, I'll be down soon okay?"

"Are you alright? You don't seem very happy. In fact you seem rather emotionless."

I sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just not in a good mood I guess. And this bad feeling I have isn't helping."

"Bad feeling?"

I shivered and rubbed my arms. "I-I just feel like something horrible is going to happen today. Oh, and I know you guys have a party planned for me. I figured that out."

"Oops." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck. Then he turned serious. "This bad feeling doesn't have anything to do with this party does it?"

I shook my head. "I can't explain it. I…I just-" I groaned and reached up so I could hold his face in my hands. I felt like this was the last time I was going to see him again but I couldn't tell him that. I wouldn't want to worry him with something so trivial as a random bad feeling. It's not like I haven't had them before and the majority of the previous feelings were wrong.

I only hoped this one was too.

"You just what?"

I stood on my tip toes and kissed him. What would I do without Derek in my life? How could I go on without being able to see him everyday and night?

His arms snaked around my waist, pressing me closer to his chest and almost lifting me off my feet.

I pulled back, my hands still on his face and his arms still wrapped around my waist. I traced a line over his eyebrow, down his cheek and over his bottom lip.

"I don't know, Derek. Maybe we can think about this _after_ my party." I dropped my hands from his face. He unwrapped his arms from my waist and stepped back.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Don't worry about it until then."

"Well, if you're sure-"

"I am." I said pulling my jeans on.

"Then let's go downstairs. At least act surprised."

"Can do." I said putting on a fake smile.

When we got downstairs all the curtains were drawn and the lights were off. The room was, surprisingly, dark enough so that I couldn't really see anything. I knew Derek could see where everyone was which gave him an advantage over me. Even though I was expecting them to jump out and yell surprise, I knew I was going to jump like the skittish kitten I have been accused of being multiple times before.

Then the lights flipped on and everyone yelled surprise, of course, I jumped.

"You're still so skittish." Derek murmured.

I playfully smack his chest the smiled at my 'family'. "You guys didn't have to do this. I would have been happy with a normal, everyday type of birthday."

"Too bad Chloe." Simon said coming forward to give me a hug. "Happy birthday."

"Oh, happy birthday hon." Aunt Lauren said hugging me after Simon stepped away. She glanced up at Derek and offered him a smile. It had taken her almost a year to _fully _accept that he was my boyfriend, that we loved each other and that Derek would never intentionally hurt me but now that she had accepted him, she treated him like one of her own. Like family.

I smiled inwardly as my throat tightened and I fought back tears. We're a family. Strange though we may be, we _are_ a tight knit family.

"You okay Chloe?" Simon asked.

I nodded. "I was just thinking."

"Well, you should be thinking about this cake." Kit said pushing it across the table to me and lighting the two and the zero candles. "And thank your aunt for making it."

I looked at my aunt Lauren and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome." she said returning my smile. "Now make a wish and blow out the candles."

"So I take it we're going to have cake for breakfast?" I asked closing my eyes and thinking of a wish.

"Unless you want something else?"

I shook my head.

"Make it a good wish Chloe." Tori said. I still had my eyes closed so I couldn't see her face, but I had a distinct feeling that she was smiling.

_I hope I never lose any of my family. _I thought before blowing out my two candles.

I felt Derek's hand on my hip and I opened my eyes.

"What did you wish for?" he asked.

I smiled. "You know I can't tell you that."

He shrugged and kissed my cheek. I glanced up and saw Kit was watching us with smile on his face. He actually looked proud.

Aunt Lauren started to cut the cake. She cut the biggest piece first and offered it to Derek. Of course he didn't turn it down. The next slice she had started to hand to Simon but Tori snatched it a walked away.

"Hey!" Simon exclaimed.

"Get over it and be nice to your sister."

"Be nice to your brother." Simon mocked. He turned back to my aunt. "That piece was a little big for me anyway."

She offered him a sheepish smile. "Right. Sorry."

When Tori and Simon found out that they were related, their reactions we pretty much polar opposites.

Aunt Lauren had been asking Kit if he was ever going to tell them when they had come barging into the room arguing with each other. He'd decided that that moment was as good as any.

Simon took it pretty well, saying that that had to be the reason they fought so much. Tori, on the other hand, couldn't decide whether she should be pissed for not finding out from her mother or disgusted because she used to like Simon.

Her reaction was a little bit of both. Eventually she calmed down and started teasing him all the time. Saying things like she had just said. 'Be nice to you sister' etc. Now they were pretty close. And surprisingly enough, Tori and Derek were pretty close too.

I felt like I was a little girl again. I was surrounded by my family, eating a homemade birthday cake. It was almost surreal considering the circumstances of our life.

I helped my aunt clean up the plates when we were done while Tori, Simon, Kit and Derek waited for us in the living room. When we were done cleaning up my aunt ushered me into the living room to join everyone else.

It was time for presents. We only gave each other small things for our birthdays. We couldn't take very much with us when we moved around so smaller things were always better.

"Mine first!" Tori said sounding oddly like a small child. She got up and handed me a box then leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Don't let Kit or Lauren see that. They don't know what I got you."

"Oh. Maybe I should open it later then."

She shrugged. "Open it sometime tonight though."

I nodded. "Okay."

Kit handed me a small box and said that the present was from him and Simon both.

I unfolded the top and found at least five novels I had forgotten the last time we moved.

"We remembered how upset you were when you found out you forgot them." Kit said.

Simon smiled. "Yeah. So we bought you new ones to replace them."

"Oh, thank you guys so much!" I said smiling.

Aunt Lauren pulled something from her pocket and handed it to me. "Sorry it's not in a cute little package or something. I didn't have time to get it wrapped."

I took the chain from her hand. "That's okay."

"It's so you can replace that ratty ribbon your pendant is hanging on right now."

I glanced down at the ribbon. It was frayed and would probably rip apart sometime soon.

"Thanks Aunt Lauren. Anyone have any scissors so I can replace it now?" Tori jumped up to grab me a pair from the kitchen.

While I waited for her to bring the scissors back I looked at Derek. "So, what do you have for me?"

"Just wait for Tori to come back."

"Okay?" I said, slightly confused.

Tori brought the scissors to me and I cut the ribbon. Derek caught my necklace as it fell off my neck and then pulled the ribbon out. He held out his hand for the chain, replaced it and clipped it around my neck.

"Thanks." I said flipping my hair back over my shoulder.

Derek glanced up at his dad and Kit gave a subtle nod.

I wondered why until Derek slid from the couch cushion next to me, to the floor where he was sitting on one knee. My heart started hammering in my chest. I thought I would pass out at any second if it didn't slow down a bit.

He pulled a ring out of his pocket and took my left hand. "Chloe, will you marry me?"

My throat was tight and tears started streaming down my face. "Yes! Of course!" I almost yelled when I found my voice again. Derek slipped the ring onto my finger and I threw myself at him.

"Congratulations!" Everyone exclaimed simultaneously.

Something exploded outside. It was close enough to shake the windows in the living room.

"Shit." Kit said, jumping up off the couch. "Hell's about to break loose in this house. And we have no chance of getting out of here without a fight."

"What?" Tori exclaimed. "Couldn't it be something less dangerous, like a stupid kid or something?"

From the living room, we heard the front door bust open.

"Unfortunately, no."

We ran into the kitchen just as the back door burst open too. Along with two of the windows, sending glass flying everywhere. I ducked and covered my head so none of it would it my face.

Derek pulled me up once the glass had all hit the floor and he kissed me soundly.

"Just incase." He whispered right before a group of men entered the kitchen.

Sparks shot from Tori's fingers right before she shot a bolt of electricity at one of the men. He charged her and they were locked in a fight. Kit was right. We weren't going to get out of here without fighting.

Two of the men rushed at Derek and Aunt Lauren, Kit, Simon and I each were left to each fight one of the remaining men.

Whoever I was fighting was strong. Not werewolf strong but stronger than I was none the less. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the men Derek was fighting was down for the count. Derek didn't have enough time to bend and check the man's pulse though.

The only person he had ever killed was Liam and that was entirely by accident. Anytime he had to fight someone now, if he knocked them out he would always check for a pulse. No matter how bad these people were he couldn't kill them because he wasn't a monster.

That momentary pause in my fight cost me a lot. The next thing I knew I was being slammed into a doorframe, my head being rammed into the molding so hard I was seeing stars in seconds. Of course, the fact that the man was holding his hand around my throat wasn't helping.

I kicked and punched all in an effort to get him to let go of me but it was useless, especially because I was trying to pry his fingers from my throat at the same time.

Any movement at all was becoming increasingly difficult due to the fact that I was having trouble breathing. The edges of my vision were going dark and I thought I was going to pass out at any moment.

Then I was dropped to the floor, rubbing my neck and gasping for air. I looked up to see a blurry image of Derek fighting with the man who had almost killed me. I crawled over to the two men Derek had been fighting before to check for a pulse. Derek would want to know if he had killed them or not so I had to check for him.

He hadn't killed either one. Bruised them, yes. But he didn't kill them.

My vision returned to normal the same time Simon was thrown into the wall next to me.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, my voice rough from having my throat squeezed so tightly.

He rubbed his head. "I'll be nursing a serious headache later but yeah, I'm fine. I really should be asking you the same question."

"I'm fine too."

I looked up to see the man Simon had been fighting pull something out of his pocket. He pulled a small rubber cap off the end and dropped it on the floor. Then I realized he was holding a syringe.

Aunt Lauren dropped to the floor with a thud. I looked back to the syringe and swallowed. Whatever was in there would knock us out cold.

He went after me first. He lunged and I rolled away. Simon jumped up and kicked the man's back. He stumbled forwards then turned and grabbed Simon's arm, completely ready to jam the needle in and knock him out. But as he turned I lashed out, my leg made contact with the back of his leg and he toppled forward. The syringe skidded away and Simon scrambled after it. He grabbed it and stabbed it in the arm of our attacker. Then he looked at me and smiled. But he smile only lasted a second.

"Chloe, behind you."

I turned and tried to move out of the way of the man who had been behind me. Unfortunately he grabbed my arm and injected me before I could skitter too far away. I stumbled back against the wall. Everything seemed to slow down as my vision got blurrier. The last thing I saw was a bright flash of light, one of Tori's spells. It took out two of our attackers. Only three left.

The last thing I fully heard and understood was Derek yelling my name. Then Simon shouted something and that sound got mixed in with a growl from Derek and my thud as I hit the floor.

Then everything went black.

When I awoke I had no idea where I was.

"Oh. I think she's waking up." A familiar voice said.

I groaned and rubbed my temples. My head was pounding and the rest of my body seemed to be painfully throbbing.

"Chloe? How are you feeling?" Another familiar voice, a bit older sounding than the last one.

"Chloe?" This time the familiar voice was female. I still couldn't place names with the voices yet. My head was too foggy. Nothing seemed to make sense at the moment.

When I finally did open my eyes I realized we were in a hotel room. The walls were an eggshell white and the carpeting an interesting emerald shade of green, while the curtains, couch, bedspreads and even the crown molding were green and gold. There was a television and a desk pushed in a corner to make room for a cot.

"What happened?" I mumbled rubbing my eyes while they readjusted to the light.

"We were attacked." I realized that the older voice had been Kit. The other two were Simon and Tori.

"We need to tell her now." Tori said, nudging Kit's arm.

"Tell me what?" I looked around the room. "Where is my aunt and where is Derek?"

They all exchanged a nervous glance. "Chloe…um." Tori started.

"I'm not really sure how to say this but-" Kit swallowed. He seemed to be unable to finish his sentence, his pained expression making it look like he was about to burst into tears at any moment. I'd never seen him cry before so this must have been serious.

"Chloe, they're gone." Simon finished for them.

**Took a little while to get to that ending huh? Sorry 'bout that if you didn't like it. But it's a nice little cliff hanger isn't it. Gone can mean SO many things.**

**This is the longest chapter for anything I have EVER written. It's kind of exciting.**

**But anyways, I hope everyone liked how my new story is going so far. I'll have plenty of time to work on all my stories from the 13****th**** to the 21****st****. I'm going to be at the fair again! (Luff that place.) And I have lots of time to work but, sadly, no internet to update with so all updates will take place on the 21****st****…really, really late on the 21****st****…**

**Review please. Don't make me beg for them. Please!**

**(=^_^=)**


	2. Memories And Heartache

**So…no one kill me for lying and taking forever to update all my stories. But fair week was insane and I had no time. Then there was school (a freaking AP Psych class in school. (College level class)) and rabbit shows and other things that hindered me from having time to sit and write. **

**So, I apologize but clearly I've got a crap load of updates for you wonderfully patient people. They will be coming throughout my three day weekend but they will all be there.**

**Before you get to the actual chapter part, I want to thank everyone who reviewed. I swear if you stick with me through the whole story you'll be in for a pretty interesting ride. No joke, I have been thinking about this story non stop since I started it so I'm so excited to be working on it and I have a lot of ideas for it…BUT SWEAR TO ME NOW THAT YOU WILL NOT TRY TO HURT ME LATER ON…**

**This chapter is started differently than my usual updates because I started with some flashbacks instead of just starting where I left off. Hopefully you all like that. That being said, flashbacks are in italics and the reason the rating is already changed to M is that one of the flashbacks is the first time Chloe and Derek have sex. So…sorry? If you don't like that, really sorry. That's just how the chapter wrote itself.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: DP isn't mine. It is fun to play with the characters though. *Smirks***

**Memories and Heartache**

**Chloe POV**

_The night air was cool against my skin. I was sitting in the parking lot outside our hotel because I couldn't sleep. I don't know why a peaceful slumber wouldn't welcome me but after an hour of just lying in bed with my eyes closed, I decided to go out for a walk. _

_Obviously, I couldn't go very far because if Derek were to wake up and notice me missing…_

_I sighed. If I went farther than this parking lot he would have a heart attack. As it was if he found me out here, he wouldn't be too happy because I was out in the open alone. _

_Honestly, I was surprised that Derek wasn't awake yet. On a normal basis he would wake at the slightest noise. It would make sense for me to believe that if he had woken up he would be hounding me for trying to slip out on my own._

_Tonight though, he was sound asleep. And even though that was odd for him, I know he was tired. It's not like any of us have gotten much sleep lately so I understood._

_That brought me back to my sleep problem. I couldn't understand why sleep was avoiding me. I was tired. Exhausted actually. My bed in the hotel was amazing, like sleeping on a cloud that came with big fluffy pillows and soft sheets. _

_So why the heck couldn't I sleep?_

_I shivered. The air around me seemed to be getting colder. Maybe it was because I wasn't walking around anymore. I wrapped my arms around my body in an effort to keep myself warm. _

_That was a waste on my part and I knew it would be but for some reason I tried it anyway._

_It was an usually cool night which explained why I was cold. But I couldn't find the energy to get up. But if I turned into a Chloe-cicle no one in that hotel room, most definitely not Derek, would be happy and that was the only reason I stood and made my way back to the room. _

You should have just grabbed a sweatshirt on the way out, smarty.

_I resisted the urge to shush myself out loud. I hadn't thought of grabbing a sweatshirt because our room was actually kind of warm and my tired mind didn't make the connection of warm transitioning cool until I was outside. _

_I pulled the room key, which was actually a card, out of my pocket and slipped it into the electronic lock. The little green light flashed and the lock clicked. I silently cursed the noise. Maybe someone else wouldn't notice but Derek would…if he still wasn't passed out._

_I slipped through the door, being careful to only open it as far as I needed for my small body to fit through. I didn't want too much light from the parking lot to get in and wake someone up._

_The idea of getting my sweatshirt was easy. Just sneak across the room and grab it but my clumsiness makes things about ten times more difficult. Case in point, while walking to my miniscule pile of clothing I accidentally kicked the chair at the desk and yelped from the shock and the pain shooting through my foot._

_Only Derek stirred. In a way I was glad he was the only person so I wouldn't have to explain anything to anyone else but at the same time I wished it was someone else. I wouldn't be interrogated over what I was doing, just a few question and then I would be told to go back to sleep._

_Derek rolled over to face me and propped himself up on his elbows._

"_What the hell are you doing?" His voice was thick from sleep and he was talking so quietly I wasn't sure if he was growling or whispering the question at me. _

_I was hoping for the latter._

"_Nothing." I blurted. I rubbed the back of my neck knowing that Derek would catch my lie._

_He scoffed. "It doesn't seem like nothing. You are acting as though I caught you in an illegal act of some sort."_

"_Yeah Derek. Definitely. I was just out there finalizing a drug deal. You caught me."_

"_Chloe." That was definitely a growl. He threw the covers off of his body and flew out of his bed like a bat out of hell. "That's not funny."_

_His green eyes seemed to glow in the dim light that was filtering through the window. As he looked down at me I felt a twinge of fear. Not fear of Derek but fear that he might find out, or already know, where I was._

_As soon as I thought that, Derek's features softened and he placed his left hand on my face, his thumb rubbing across my cheek over the small scar there. _**(A/N I don't actually remember which side of her face was cut so we're going with left.)**

"_Why are you awake?" He asked._

"_I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried."_

_He smirked. "Did you try counting sheep?"_

_I gave him a droll stare. "You're not funny."_

"_Sorry." His features turned serious. "In all seriousness though Chloe, do you know why?"_

_I shook my head. _

_He moved back to his bed and laid down then offered me a place to lay next to him._

"_Someone will probably get mad." I said with a pointed look to my aunt, who was sound asleep on the pull out couch. _

_We had two rooms that were connected. We left the door connecting the two rooms open because it didn't really matter to any of us. Better to have one big room than two with a locked door standing in the way if someone were to need help. Simon, Tori and Kit were in the other room. I'd insisted Derek be in the same room as me and, after much protest from my aunt, I finally got my way._

"_I'll move you when you fall asleep. Or just set an alarm and wake up before her so she won't know. If you're still sleeping I can move you back to your bed."_

_I sighed. "I guess." _

_He motioned for me to lie next to him. I did, internally protesting simply because I didn't want my aunt to get mad at either of us. It's not like we were going to do anything we shouldn't but she wouldn't see it that way._

"_If I get in trouble for this Derek Souza, so help me I'll-" He cut me off with a light kiss._

"_Calm down. Neither of us will get in trouble."_

_I didn't reply, only snuggled up close to him and sighed. He wrapped his arm around me and held me close. I felt content and I felt like I could actually fall sleep here. There was an undeniable feeling of safety that came with being in his arms._

_After a few minutes Derek started to run his fingers through_ _my_ _hair and within minutes I was asleep._

* * *

"_Would you just listen to me for five seconds!" I yelled._

"_Chloe, don't you understand that I'm concerned about your safety. I mean, he's a werewolf for crying out loud."_

"_So what! What is so wrong with that? He's been nothing but careful with me."_

"_I know you have met other werewolves and you know how they can be."_

"_How they can be? What the hell are you talking about?"_

"_Watch your mouth."_

_I groaned. "Just listen to me, please."_

_Aunt Lauren seemed to pause for a moment as she took note of the desperation in my voice. _

"_Derek would sooner die than hurt me."_

_She stared at me and she almost looked…lost. She knew a year ago that I was perfectly fine with Derek, that he would protect me no matter the cost. But every now and then she would get in a horrible mood and 'forget' that realization. That's when these fight would occur._

_Her brow creased, at first in what seemed to be confusion, but then she looked angry again. She really just needed sleep. She couldn't function without a decent amount of sleep each night and with us having to move again last week she wasn't really up to doing anything which included arguing. But here she was, arguing with me about Derek. Again. _

"_Forget it! I give up." I stomped out of the room fuming. I was absolutely furious with her stubborn hardheaded ways. I needed to find Derek so I could calm down. He was the one I sought out every time something went awry. Every single time. And I knew he had heard us yelling so I needed to see if he had any reaction to that. _

_I barged into his room without knocking, knowing that he wouldn't care, and then slammed the door closed. Dressed only in a pair of sweat pants, he was lying on his bed on his back with his hands on his stomach and he was just staring at the ceiling._

_I rushed to his bed and laid down next to him. He shifted, moving his arm so that he could hold me._

"_Just breath Chloe."_

"_Doesn't it bother you?"_

_He sighed. "I'm so used to people treating me that way that it doesn't really bother me anymore."_

"_I know that that isn't true. You care too much about other people to not be bothered by the fact that they might hate you for no reason."_

"_Damn." He grumbled. "You know me too well. Fine it does bother me but there isn't really too much I can do about it. People are going to think what they want and you probably aren't going to be able to change their opinions."_

_This was why I loved talking to him. He was so down to earth and calm about most everything unless it involved my safety. Even if what he had to say wasn't really all that pleasant, he could always help me when I had a dilemma. _

_This definitely qualified as a dilemma._

"_I love you Derek."_

_He moved his arm away from me and shifted so that he was looking down at me. Without a word he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. How I loved his touch. His kiss. Derek was pure bliss and he was forever mine._

"_I love you too." He whispered against my lips. Then he smiled and pulled away so he could laugh._

"_What?" _

"_I just thought of something really cheesy."_

"_What?" I asked again._

"_Our love can conquer all obstacles."_

"_That's not cheesy."_

_He glanced at me, that wonderful smile still on his face. "What would you call it then?"_

_Tapping my finger against my lower lip, I thought for a moment._

_Derek was looking at me, expecting an answer sometime in the near future but the look on his face said he thought I wasn't going to reply._

"_It's romantic." I declared._

_He rolled over so he could recapture my lips. I buried my hand in his hair, pulling him closer as he wrapped one arm around me and pressed me to his bare chest. He left my lips, trailing kissed down my jaw to my neck._

"_Romantic it is then." He breathed against my skin, raising goose bumps._

_There was a light knock at the door that made us jump apart. Without a true invitation, my aunt cracked the door open and poked her head in. She cast us a sheepish look before stepping into the room._

_She was fidgeting when she spoke. "I'm really sorry Chloe. I know that you're safe with him but sometimes I let the past get the better of me."_

"_He is right here you know and while I thank you for your apology-" I started._

"_I'm sorry Derek. I'm not going to treat you like that anymore. Nor will I say anything bad about you ever again. I promise"_

_I looked over my shoulder to see Derek's expression. I'm not sure who looked more shocked at her declaration. It seemed like it was Derek because he was completely speechless._

_I swallowed and turned back to face my aunt. "Thank you."_

* * *

_I pulled on one of Derek's tee shirts and slipped into bed. A few minutes later Derek came out of our bathroom wearing a pair of navy blue sweatpants. He pulled the covers back and laid down next to me except he was lying on his side while I was on my back. _

_I rolled so that I was looking him straight in the eye. His eyes widened a degree at how close I was but other than that he didn't move. _

"_You know what?"_

"_What?"_

"_I love you."_

"_I already knew that." _

_I stuck my tongue out at him._

"_But, I love you too."_

_I smiled. "You know what else?"_

_He shook his head._

"_I love your eyes and they way they sparkle when you look at me. And I love that you look at me like I am the most precious thing in the world to you."_

_Though the only light in the room was coming in from the full moon outside I noticed Derek was blushing. I smiled and bit my lower lip._

"_You are the most precious thing in the world." He stated simply._

_It was my turn to blush and Derek didn't need the moonlight to see it. He smiled and closed the gap between us. He was always so tender and sweet when he kissed me._

_No. _He _was just always tender and sweet. Kisses or not. _

_I buried my hands in his hair and he rolled onto his back, pulling me across his chest in the process. He cradled my head in his hands while we kissed. I felt something shatter between us. A barrier that I doubt either of us had known was there. But that broken barrier gave me the courage to ask Derek a question._

_I slid my hands down the back of his neck, letting my nails lightly scrape at his skin before I slid my hands to his chest and pulled away._

"_Make love to me Derek." I whispered._

"_Chloe-"_

"_Derek." I mocked before he could even finish his sentence. _

_He sighed. It was a sigh of indecision. I knew he was fighting with himself over this. Go through with it or don't? _

_I leaned down to nip at his chin. "Please Derek."_

_I kissed his neck. His shoulder. He sucked his breath in sharply as I traced a line down his chest and over his stomach._

"_You're trying to kill me. Admit it."_

_I smiled. "Never." I ran my finger back up his stomach._

"_They why are you doing that?"_

"_Because I know you like it." I shifted, moving so that I was covering Derek's torso with my body._

_Here I sat, straddling Derek's waist while I waited for him to make his choice. _

_He looked up at me and I could see the answer in his eyes before he even pulled me back down for a scorching kiss. His hands were practically glued to my hips until he started to tug at the tee I was wearing. I sat back and pulled the shirt over my head. I felt a blush creeping across my face and down my neck. I'd never been so bold before. With everything we did I was always shy especially when it came to my body. _

_But Derek was staring up at me in awe. And the love I saw in his eyes made me want to weep. All these wonderful emotions welled up inside of me and I swear I was going to burst just from the sheer joy of the moment._

"_You're so beautiful Chloe." _

_My blush increased tenfold. _

_Ignoring my embarrassment, I slid down his body so I could pull his sweatpants off. Derek just laid back watching me with hooded eyes. I crawled back up his body but reached out to the nightstand and opened the drawer before settling back down where I had been before. After a few moments of blindly grabbing around in the drawer I finally pulled out the little foil package I was looking for._

_I leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You're going to need this."_

_He grabbed it then looked at me. "Where did you get this?"_

_I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I bought them."_

"_You bought a box of-"_

"_This is not embarrass Chloe night okay? Put it on or don't, I don't care."_

_He looked at me then ripped into the foil packaging. I think he had the same thought as me. _

Don't put it on and nothing will happen tonight.

_I moved away from him so I could slip off my underwear then I sat and watched Derek. His muscles bunched with each movement he made as he slide the condom on. I bit my bottom lip in expectation._

_Derek looked at me. "Are you sure?"_

_I crawled back over his body, looked down at him and smiled. My hair fell forward to create a veil over both of our faces and it only seemed to increase the intimacy of the moment. _

_I nodded._

_Derek shifted ever so slightly so that he had better access to me then he slowly guided himself into my body._

_My world exploded. At first in pain but that pain turned into the most incredible pleasure._

* * *

I fought back a sob. This was so unfair.

I'd been outside the hotel crying for at least half an hour and I didn't see an end in sight for these stupid angry tears.

Simon, Tori and Kit had explained to me that after I blacked out the men we were fighting stopped trying to even attack Simon, Tori or Kit unless one of them tried to fight them. Their main focus was Derek. It was always Derek.

My poor Derek. Completely harmless but everyone wanted him to be put down like some rabid psychotic dog.

Kit made a choice that he had to get us out, especially me because obviously I couldn't get myself out of the house. But no matter what he tried with the help of Simon and Tori, getting to Derek and getting him and my aunt out of there wasn't working.

It's not like they gave up. Fighting with those men would have been futile but still…I wish there was something we could have done.

Derek's gone now. Did that mean he was being held captive or that he was…dead?

I choked on another sob at that thought.

What the hell was I going to do without Derek? He was what kept me grounded in this world. How could I go on without him? Without his love? I wanted to scream and throw a temper tantrum but that would get us no where.

But what I hated the most was that maybe, just maybe, we could have done something or avoided this whole situation if I had just told everyone else that I could feel something bad was going to happen. I couldn't live with that guilt. Knowing something bad was going to happen and not saying anything.

Now Derek and my aunt were gone and it was my fault.

"Chloe." Tori said from behind me.

"Go away."

"Chloe, please come eat. You have to do something today and you can't function without food."

"Sure I can. I can function and keep on working until I die of starvation." I said bitterly.

"I know you're hurting Chloe but-"

"You don't know how bad I'm feeling right now. Please go away."

She was silent for a moment. Then she exploded. "Don't you dare say that to me! I know he's your boyfriend, or fiancé, or whatever but he's my brother. Don't you dare say that I have no idea how you're feeling!"

In that moment I felt like the lowest of the low. The worst kind of human possible. She was right and I knew it. All I had been doing since they told me what had happened was wallowing in my own self pity and I didn't show any sign that I cared how they felt.

I wiped my eyes with my shirt sleeve and looked up at Tori. "We have to find him."

"We will Chloe." She reached down and yanked me up off the sidewalk. "Come back inside, eat lunch and then we can start working on some kind of plan."

**New Edison Group HQ**

"Answer me you dog! Where could they have gone?"

Derek spit the blood out of his mouth but didn't speak. What was the point? He didn't have any idea as to where his family was either.

He was tied up. Hanging from the ceiling by his hands. His feet were shackled to the floor preventing him from being able to get decent leverage so he could kick someone. Plus he couldn't even get his leg up that high because of the way he was chained up.

The man who was supposed to be interrogating him instead of severely torturing him growled and held up a knife.

"Where are they?"

Derek still refused to answer.

The man bellowed in rage and lashed out at Derek cutting a deep gash from his hairline, down his jaw and to his chin.

Derek smelled the blood, felt it pouring down his face and dripping down to his bare chest which was covered in a multitude of welts and deep cuts from the insane interrogators 'methods' as well. Aside from the fact that he was grinding his teeth and breathing heavily from the throbbing pain in his head, Derek showed no signs he had been injured in anyway.

"Enough!" A new man stepped through the doorway. "Release him or I'll kill you where you stand or better yet in your sleep. You know I would relish that kill. But it's obvious he's not going to answer you, you moron."

"Do not take that tone with-"

"Shut up maggot. I don't answer to you. You answer to me and you'll do well to remember that. Now release him and send someone in to tend his wounds."

The interrogator left grumbling and cursing as he walked out.

"I know you have no idea where your family and friends are, with the exception of Lauren of course. I don't know why that man is allowed to stay here. He doesn't think things through. Just impulsively kills." The new man sighed. "But I guess you can't change who your family is."

Two more men came into the room followed by a nurse of some sort. The men freed Derek from his binding and the woman went right to cleaning up his face. As she worked Derek looked up at the man who stopped his torturing.

He was tall, at least 6' 5" with dark brown hair that fell just above his broad shoulders. Any part of the mans skin that was visible was covered in some sort of scar. Even his face was scared.

_Well, at least you aren't the only one now,_ Derek thought.

Whoever this man was he didn't seem too inclined to share anything with Derek. Not even his name. At least he wasn't sharing yet. Who knows what the rest of this insane day would hold.

But, at the moment, he was simply standing waiting for Derek's facial wound to be cleaned and bandaged. He didn't seemed as concerned about the other wounds he'd obtained. Maybe the one on his face was the worst? He seriously doubted that.

Five minutes later the nurse had cleaned up her first aid kit and was now scurrying out of the room.

The man offered Derek his hand. Derek didn't take it but he realized that he was having trouble standing on his own so, reluctantly, he had to accept this strangers help.

"So, when are you going to kill me?" Derek asked starting to touch the area where his face was bandaged. He stopped himself before he touched the bandage though, lest he open the wound again.

"If I wanted you dead Derek, you would already be a blood stain on the floor. I don't need to torture you and weaken you to kill you, I assure you of that much."

"Then what are you going to do with me?"

"You'll see Mr. Souza. Unfortunately, you will probably end up wishing for death later on."

Derek definitely did not like the sound of that.

All he wanted to do was go back to last night and see Chloe again, her eyes alight as he kissed her senseless.

Who knows what he was going to be doing now. It didn't involve Chloe and it certainly didn't involve kissing her.

The man motioned for Derek to follow him. "You need clothing. And by the way, I'm Thorn."

**So…shorter chapter than I wanted but did you like it? Was it worth waiting for? Please review and tell me what you think.**

**(=^_^=)**


	3. Research And Development

**Yay! I'm so excited that I got reviews…only six but hey I'll keep writing for one. So, yeah…you know, I have done nothing but think about this story non stop since I started it and I have so many ideas for later chapters and fights and emotions and lemons and…maybe I should shut up before I tell you all of my ideas.**

**But, clearly, I'm excited. And you guys should be too because everything I updated tonight (this story plus others) was written in the past week instead of me doing my homework. Yeah…you ought to be absolutely elated over this since I've actually been doing my homework this year. (Except for last week of course.)**

**This is kind of a Derek heavy chapter (meaning there is more from Derek's side of the story than I had originally planned, not that his section dominates the chapter. You are still only going to get bits and pieces of what is happening with him) but I hope you enjoy it. The EG piece is after Chloe's first part. Maybe three hours or so after.**

**Disclaimer: DP is not mine…however, the epic ideas flitting around inside my brain are!**

**Research and Development**

**Chloe POV**

"Let go of me!" I yelled trying to pull my arm out of Kit's grasp.

"Chloe, stop. You should know that we can't just dive headfirst into a rescue mission when we don't know anything about where Derek and Lauren are." Kit was calm and rational given the situation.

But, calm and rational we're things that I wasn't at the moment. I needed to find Derek. The urge to scour across the entire country for him was completely overwhelming.

He relaxed his grip on my arm and when he realized that I wasn't going to try and bolt out the door again, he released me. "I know how badly you want to find him. Really, I do. I feel the same way. Simon and Tori too. But we can't rush into this situation. As much as we all are going to hate it we need to do a bit of research first, some scouting and planning before we can even attempt to rescue him."

"I know. I'm sorry Kit. This whole situation is just so bad and I feel like there is no such thing as hope without Derek around."

He offered me a sad, sympathetic smile. "I think we put a little too much faith in Derek in the past."

"How do you mean?" I asked sitting down on the couch in our hotel room.

"Well, he's much bigger than the rest of us, stronger. Not to mention the fact that he is incredibly smart which leads us to believe that he would be able to think his way out of any situation and help us out too. As a group we all work well together but when we are left to our own thoughts and actions, even while another of our misfit group is in the same room, we seem to falter. It's only in hindsight that we truly understand each other's weaknesses and our own."

"And a big one for all of us is that we depend on Derek to much?"

Kit nodded. "We all should have known better by now and Simon and I really should have paid more attention to this factor before but, spells and all of _our_ other supernatural abilities aside, we rely on Derek's strength when we are in a bind because he's always prevailed."

"So this is what happens when he doesn't prevail." I grumbled.

"Unfortunately."

I sighed and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was just a little after five o'clock and I was starting to wonder what was holding Simon and Tori up. They had left to go grab dinner, and anything else they thought was important, almost two hours ago. The hotel we had chosen to stay in was in the middle of everything in this area so it shouldn't take too incredibly long for them to return.

"How much longer do you think it going to be before Simon and Tori return?" I asked running my fingers through my tangled hair.

Right on cue, the locked clicked and Simon pushed his way into the room followed by Tori. It was almost like they had been standing outside waiting around for someone to wonder where they were.

"Shut up Tori. You are so infuriating. I knew I should have bought some Advil before we left the store."

"Like you are any better, you stubborn, pig headed, little-"

"Hey!" Kit barked, grabbing their attention. "Why are you two acting like five year olds?"

"They're siblings. It's what they do." I mumbled. I doubt anyone was paying attention to me though.

"Well, this one here-" Tori started

Kit held his right hand up to silence her. He rubbed his eyes before addressing Simon. "Maybe you should have bought some Advil. But, forget trying to explain to me what happened because I don't really care. We have more pressing issues than what you two started fighting about this time."

Simon and Tori glanced down at the floor, sheepish expressions on both their faces.

"Sorry." Tori said before turning and setting the bag she was carrying down. It was a large brown paper bag folded down at the top and stapled. There was a big yellow and blue smiley face on one side. The blue writing under the smiley face read 'Thank you for ordering.'

"So what's in there?" I asked as Tori ripped open the bag, sending the single staple flying somewhere into the room. Knowing my luck I would find that staple in my foot later tonight.

The smell that invaded my senses answered my question. Chinese food.

Tori pulled out three sets of chopsticks. "We all know how to eat with these right? If not, I guess you're going to be eating with your fingers because I don't have any other eating utensils." She handed one set to each of us and pulled out three different cartons of food. "Simon took care of his dinner, drinks and finding maps and other sorts of directories for us to start looking over so I guess you are just going to have to pick whichever one of these seems most appealing to you." She shrugged before opening each of the food cartons.

Simon pulled out four bottles of water and passed one to each of us. "This was the cheapest. And-" he pulled a few other things out of his bag. "I have a few topographical maps of the area, two road maps and a brand new pack of markers so we can color code our maps."

"Good. If there is anything else we need we can grab it tomorrow."

"Speaking of tomorrow…" I said grabbing the carton of shrimp fried rice. "What are our plans for tomorrow?"

Kit turned to me. "First, we're heading back to the old Edison Group building."

I gave him a puzzled look. "Why are we going there?"

"Just to check things out. The place probably looks worse than before but since we don't really know where Derek is or where this new headquarters is, we need to start somewhere."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense. What about after that?"

"We go to the local library and hit the books."

"Or we play around with Google." Simon said absently.

Tori cut him an irritated look. "We aren't going to be _playing _with anything. We have work to do."

Simon held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood."

I silently thanked Simon. Though the timing was off we really did need something to distract us for just a little while. But I didn't say anything out loud to him. "What are we researching?" I asked Kit.

"Anything relevant to finding Derek. But I would start with recently constructed buildings or any old warehouse that has been renovated."

"So, basically, we are going to be checking newspapers, zoning and housing boards, if we can get the records that is, and other types of public records?" Tori asked.

Kit nodded. "If there is anything else you can think of that might have to do with finding where Derek and Lauren are then search for that too."

"So, we're trying to find the potential buildings they could be in? I need to go to sleep then. There is no way I'll be able to stay awake looking through all that tomorrow if I don't get a decent amount of sleep." Tori kicked her shoes off and tossed the empty Chinese food carton into the trash can near Simon's feet.

I was inclined to agree with her. Reading through public records didn't seem that appealing. Even less so while tired. But I would do it just so I could have my family back.

"Aren't you guys glad I have lots of maps and markers now?" Simon asked with a goofy grin on his face.

I smiled but Tori and Kit didn't respond. I wasn't sure if it was because they were just ignoring him or because they didn't find it even remotely funny.

**Edison Group HQ**

Derek stared at his reflection in the full length mirror. He looked absolutely horrible. It didn't appear that there was an inch of clear, unmarked flesh left on his body. Everywhere he looked he saw a gash or a swollen welt of some sort.

"Damn…they really did a number on me." He grumbled. Regarding his wounds, the only thing he had to look forward to was the fact that he would heal a little bit faster than a normal human being. And he didn't take much solace in that.

It hurt to move and, depending on how he was sitting, it hurt to breath. And that Thorn guy expected him to dress in jeans? Was he crazy? Did Thorn not realize what kind of pain he felt?

Derek shook his head as he continued to look in the mirror. No, Thorn knew. He had to know simply because of all the scars that were on him. This was still a form of torture. Another way to try and control him.

Growling, Derek moved away from the mirror and began to dress, cursing Thorn the entire time. For once in his life he actually wanted revenge. He wanted to strike back and hurt the man. But it wasn't a human desire. The wolf in him wanted it because it had no desire to be the omega wolf.

Derek cursed when he realized he was in a verbal war with himself. There really weren't many times when his human side and the wolf side didn't agree. The wolf's needs were primal and easy to satisfy so he didn't have to think about them because many of them were the same as human wants. Food, shelter and a sense of love and trust.

He'd already learned that the only major difference in his thoughts while he was in wolf form was that he wanted to run and jump and just get an overall larger amount of exercise.

But actually killing someone was where he would draw the line. That was way too far to go and he would be stuck in this battle with the wolf's need clawing at him while his moral values sat foremost in his mind telling the wolf off. That would probably continue until he was either let out of this place or until he died.

He was really hoping it wasn't the latter but somewhere, deep in the back of his mind he knew it probably would be the outcome in the end.

Derek sighed as he pulled on the shirt Thorn left for him. It was just a simple black cotton shirt, much like the simple black jeans that he had left. The only thing Derek had that actually belonged to him was his shoes. Black and white sneakers. He was glad that at least _someone_ had had the forethought to remove them before they tortured him. He didn't really want blood on his only pair of shoes.

At the reminder of his torture, Derek flinched. He never wanted that to happen again. Sure, he'd been injured in the past. Who hasn't? But what he just went through was ridiculous. As soon as these people got their hands on him, they started in with the beatings and the whipping. How he managed to stay conscious through the whole thing was a concept even he couldn't understand.

The sound of the whip slicing through the air was still fresh in his mind. The look on his torturers face was just as clear. It was like the man relished every single cut or bruise that was left. But the worst memory would always be the pain that lacerated his chest. He could hardly breathe from it. It felt as though every inch of the flesh on his chest had been stripped away and his entrails were going to be falling out at any second.

The thought made him gag.

Eight hours later he could take mostly steady breaths but he still couldn't move without pain. If it wasn't for Thorn he would probably be dead right now.

Derek scoffed at the thought. That was a lie and he knew it. Thorn was the leader of this band of morons, he had figured that much out. So, Thorn had to have been the one who ordered for Derek to be mindlessly tortured.

Thorn only stopped the torturing once Derek was thoroughly marred. And he acted like a saint while doing so.

It made Derek sick.

There was a harsh knock at the door.

"Come in." Derek said reaching for one of his shoes. He paused, grinding his teeth as a fierce pain racked his body. When he stood up straight the pain began to subside but there was still a dull ache thrumming through his body.

"Having trouble with something?" Thorn asked. There was no mocking in his voice and when Derek turned to him, he didn't see the smirk he expected to be plastered on his face.

But, Derek's response was still acidic. "What does it look like you rank bastard?" he growled through clenched teeth.

Thorn didn't respond to the insult. Instead, he gestured to the open doorway. "You don't need shoes out there. Now come, I'm sure you're quite hungry."

Derek didn't follow immediately. "It's poisoned or something isn't it? What are you trying to do, lure me into a false sense of trust and then kill me when my guard is down?"

Thorn smiled. He was a truly vicious looking man when he did that. "I already told you if I wanted you dead, you would be. Besides, you are far too valuable to kill."

_There is no way the sense of foreboding I have right now is a coincidence, _Derek thought as he reluctantly followed Thorn out of the room.

**Chloe POV**

That night I dreamed about Derek. Or more specifically, all the horrible things that could have happened to him. I awoke so many times before four a.m. that the final time I woke up I just stayed awake.

"So much for sleep." I grumbled throwing the covers off my body and sliding out of bed.

I started to walk to the bathroom so I could take a shower when it occurred to me that none of us had any of our things here with us. There was no time to grab anything and I'm sure that my safety, as well as theirs, was the top priority yesterday.

I ran my fingers through my hair, pretending they were a brush and then I pulled it back into a ponytail. Sighing, I grabbed the room key, some money and the keys to Kit's black Chevrolet Tahoe and silently slipped out the door.

I knew this was stupid. I was going back to the very place we had to escape from yesterday. But what made it worse was that I could hear Derek's voice, plain as day, in the back of my mind telling me that this was a stupid idea. What if they are still watching the house? You should have waited until the others woke up and then you all could have gone…things like that.

But I knew there was no way I was going to be falling asleep anytime soon and if I had stayed and decided to just lie in bed for the next few hours I would have felt useless and then extremely restless. I needed to be active and if I got captured when I returned to the house, then so be it.

I ground my teeth in frustration. It was wrong to think that way. If I went missing as well, then Kit, Tori and Simon would be short one person for Derek and my aunt's rescue. And I would be added to that 'In Need of Saving' list. But sitting in the hotel waiting for the rest of them to wake up wasn't productive either.

So that was how I rationalized it. I wasn't being productive just sitting in the hotel and we _did _need our clothes and toiletries. I also planned on stopping by a twenty-four hour Wal-mart if I could find one. Prepaid cells phone would be kind of important and we needed breakfast.

I still had a feeling that someone was going to be angry that I left when they got up but I pushed that aside. If I made it back in one piece with everything I planned on grabbing this morning then they shouldn't have _too _much to complain about.

There was one good thing about moving around New York so many times; I could find some way back to the house. Even if it was the long way I would end up there.

So when I pulled up to the house I wasn't really all that surprised that, although I left the place unconscious with the inability to know where we were going, I found my way back. But when I realized I was getting close, I turned the headlights off. I didn't need to alert anyone who might be watching the house that they we no longer alone. Before I opened the door and slid out, I turned the lights on the inside of the Tahoe off too.

I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for having the ideas. It's not like they were hard things to think of but still…

I yanked the keys out of the ignition and closed the car door as quietly as possible before jogging up to the front door. The sun was starting to come up so I needed to work quickly if I wanted to be out of here with even a minimal amount of cover from the darkness.

The door was slightly ajar and I paused before pushing it open.

What if someone left it like that as a trap? I rubbed my tired eyes and sighed. My imagination was just a little too active while tired.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Everything looked exactly the same as usual. The only room that didn't was the kitchen. I wasn't going to bother going in there because I didn't want to see the mess and I didn't want to think of that fight anymore than I already was.

So I headed towards the stairs instead. Starting in Kit's room I went through a couple dresser drawers and his closet, packing a backpack full of clothing. It wasn't much but there was enough for today and the next couple days. I did the same thing in Tori's room, grabbing her favorite jeans, shirt and sweater because I knew she would want them. Then I filled the bag up with other clothes.

I set both bags outside my bedroom door. I wanted to go in. Needed to. But old memories surfaced and I dropped to the floor sobbing. I felt like I was five years old, curled up on the floor bawling my eyes out. It was like a floodgate had opened up and all the water in the reservoir was flowing free. I could barely form coherent thoughts.

I knew crying like a baby wasn't going to help find Derek and it was wasting my time here. I knew it and yet, I still did it.

What if Derek was truly dead instead of missing. I wouldn't put it past those bastards to have just nabbed him and then killed him. It's what they have always wanted. But none of us wanted that. I've never been able to understand how they could want to kill someone so nice. Whenever he did anything, and I mean anything, that _could_ have hurt someone, stranger or loved one, he would feel guilty.

How could they not look past what he was physically to see his heart, his mentality on life? Maybe…they just didn't care. But I did. And Simon, Tori and Kit did. We _needed_ to find him.

But I needed to find someway to distract myself from the pain that I felt when I thought about Derek not coming home.

I came to the conclusion that I would keep track of every little detail from here on out. Even if I didn't think about said details too often after cataloguing them. I just needed someway to keep my mind off the 'bad' so I could focus on the minimal amount of 'good' and our plans right now.

After a few more minutes of crying I had calmed down enough to drag myself up off the floor and start packing clothes. I grabbed my favorite and most comfortable clothes and one of Derek's tee shirts and stuffed them in my bag.

After I grabbed clothing from all the upstairs bedrooms, I went into the bathrooms to grab everyone's toiletries. As it turned out the only thing I grabbed was our razors and body wash because, as weird as it sounds, everyone was almost out of shampoo and I didn't see the point in grabbing almost empty bottles.

"Looks like I'm buying something else at Wal-mart."

I grabbed our bags and, with one last look into my bedroom, I went back downstairs.

I paused at the base of the staircase when I realized that I needed to go downstairs to grab clothes for Simon.

There was nothing that should have been creepy about the basement. The walls were white, the carpet beige. It was just a simple room with comfortable furniture and a 48" flat screen television. I think part of my fear stemmed from the fact that half of the basement was aboveground and the windows stretched from the ceiling to the floor. The sliding glass door that led outside didn't help either.

I still have the fear that I'll raise something in my sleep even though it hasn't happened in four years. I couldn't imagine coming down here and seeing some dead creature at one of those windows.

Simon's room was connected to the main room by a door at the base of the staircase. I ran down the steps and just grabbed the first articles of clothing I could get my hands on, not because of my fear of the basement but because I was running out of darkness and time. I needed to be back at the hotel before anyone woke up but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I would be lucky if I made it back before nine.

Within minutes I had all the bags in the Tahoe. I went back to lock the door, mainly out of habit, but right before I shut the door I remembered the present Tori gave me. I never opened it but I did have an idea of what it was. I didn't have the time to sit and open it here but I did have time to run in and grab it so I could open it later.

After I left the house I tried to find a Wal-mart somewhere near our hotel but I didn't have much luck. But there was a drugstore so I bought everything there and got out in about half the time.

When I got back to the hotel and opened the door I found three pairs of angry eyes staring back at me.

"Where the _hell _were you?" Tori growled as she shot off her bed. Then she surprised me by squeezing me in a hug so tight I couldn't breathe. "I swear if you ever do that again, I'm going to hit you so hard you will be reeling for days."

"Where did you go Chloe?" Kit asked. His tone was demanding but still had a kind, fatherly quality to it.

"Back to the house." I said nervously.

"What!" Simon exclaimed. The look on his face was a mix of terror, anger and concern.

"I…well, I went back to get some clothes and shampoo and-"

"And you couldn't wait for at least one of us to wake up?" Simon sounded angry now. Like I had just told him I stood in the middle of the highway during rush hour. Or, better yet, like I had just announced I had been out trying to find ways to kill myself for the past four hours. My mental state hadn't deteriorated _that _much in a day.

"Simon, what's got you so riled up?" Tori asked glaring at him.

"Something could have happened to her. We need to stick together. Do things as a group."

Tori scoffed. "Right. Because doing things together as a group will definitely save all of our skins if we get in trouble."

"It's better than being alone." He retorted.

"Chloe is a big girl she can handle herself. And I thought you were a big boy who could handle himself too."

I was already tired of their bickering and to make matters worse, they were talking about me like I wasn't even in the room. So I turned and slipped out the door. Not surprisingly, neither of them noticed. But Kit followed me out.

"It really would have been safer to wait for one of us to wake up." He said calmly.

"I know." I said pulling the back door on the drivers side open. "But I woke up at four after a restless night of sleep and I knew that if I were to stay in the room and wait I would lose my mind. I made it back in one piece so I don't see a problem with it."

Seeing my point, he nodded. "So it didn't seem like anyone was watching the house?"

"No. And nothing had been moved from the inside either. The front door was slightly ajar but I had taken every necessary precaution before and after I left there to ensure I made it back here whole."

"Good. I'm proud of you for doing that."

"Gee thanks. Now say it like you think I _can _accomplish normal tasks."

He sighed. "I was being serious Chloe. Do you see the way those two are acting? If someone was watching the house and they showed up, it's a guarantee that they would have been noticed within a minute of setting foot on the property."

"Oh." I swallowed. I never received a compliment like that from Kit. Usually Derek, my aunt and Kit would think of solutions to problems. It's not like Simon, Tori or I couldn't but it was just easier on everyone if the other three did it. So, in a way, the compliment caught me off guard. "Thank you."

He inclined his head as if he was saying you're welcome and gestured for me to hand him some of the bags. I stepped out of the way so he could grab what he could carry. He took three of the backpacks so I grabbed the last one and the white plastic bags from the drugstore.

Two hours later, after Simon and Tori stopped arguing, we had all eaten breakfast and showered. We'd all made the executive decision to not activate the four phones I bought until after we got back from the old Edison Group building and the library. None of us really thought that anyone would be at the old building and we knew they weren't stupid enough to attack a public place. The way we figured it, we would all be together where we were at least semi-safe so we wouldn't need the phones.

It took a little while to get to the remains of the Edison Group Headquarters but when we arrived we realized that the trip was most likely moot. There was nothing left to the building really. Any part that may have been standing when we escaped five years ago had collapsed in on itself and there was only a large pile of ruined construction material left.

"Well, this was pointless." Tori said climbing out of the passenger seat of the Tahoe.

"Yeah. There isn't anything left." Simon said pointing out the obvious.

I stared at the rubble and felt an unnatural pull to it. I remembered everything that happened there. The demi demon, the death and destruction and the only time I'd ever used my powers so much. It wasn't like I had much of a choice, but I had never used them so much since then.

I walked over to the wreckage, staring like I would find the answers to all my question there. Tori and Kit moved to stand next to me while Simon stayed back at the SUV.

"Do you see what I see guys?" Kit asked.

"I think." Tori said.

I only shook my head.

"Someone's been here. Look." He pointed to an area that looked like it had been a part of Davidoff's office. "Some of this looks as though it's been moved. It looks less worn than the area surrounding it. Like it hasn't been as exposed to the elements."

"So, someone has been through here, doing their best to move things around? What were they looking for?" I asked.

"That's a good question. It's one I doubt we will ever find the answer to." Kit said.

"So…to the library then?" Tori questioned.

Kit nodded and we left.

Once we got to the library we all set off to look for our own things but we stayed within sight of one another. I researched, writing notes and addresses and landmarks or topographical information down, until my eyes and wrist were sore. I felt a headache coming on and decided it would be best for me to stop for now.

I found Tori and sat down with her. She had one of the maps Simon got sitting out on the table beside the papers she was reading and she was twirling an orange marker around her fingers. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen but somehow, she didn't drop the marker even though her focus wasn't on that.

I stared at the map. She had at three places marked. One with a circle and two with X's.

"Are these all places we need to check out?"

She jumped, dropping the marker. I watched as it rolled off the table. "Good God Chloe. You scared me half to death."

"Sorry." I laughed to myself at how engrossed in her research she was. If I'd actually laughed out loud she probably would have smacked me.

She sighed and snatched the marker off the floor. "It's okay. Now what did you ask?"

I gestured to the map. "Are all the marked spots places we need to check out?"

She nodded. "Basically. The X's are the places I have my doubts about but I feel we should still check them out. Just to be sure, you know?"

I nodded. "Okay. So when are we going to be doing this?"

"Well…" She studied the map for a moment. "We can look here today." She said pointing to a place five blocks from our hotel. It was marked with an X.

"What is it?"

"An old warehouse. It's only marked with an X because it's not far enough from this city. I mean, why have a place where you might be torturing people and coming up with evil thoughts in the middle of a city?"

I swallowed hard at the thought of Derek or my aunt being tortured. Tori noticed the change in my mood and instantly apologized.

"It's okay." I sighed as Simon and Kit came to join us. Simon laid a map out next to Tori's. Simon had circled three places on the map completely different from the ones Tori had. I knew he didn't think of a system of importance like she did so I didn't even question which he thought we should look into first.

"So, what's the plan?" Simon asked looking over both maps.

"Well, I don't know about you two but, Chloe and I are going to be checking out this warehouse here today." Tori said tapping the X on the map.

"What is the difference between this circle and the two X's?" Kit asked.

"The circle is the one I feel is the most important of the three. But the X's are places that deserve checking out too."

He nodded in understanding then crossed his arms over his chest. "Simon, you and I can check out the other place marked as an X on her map today since we have an idea that it poses less of a threat to be there."

"What part of 'stick together' do you guys not seem to get?" he grumbled.

"Simon, we're only scouting for now. And we'll be careful. Neither Chloe or your _beloved sister _will be harmed." Tori stated simply.

Knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument, he sighed. "Alright. Whatever."

Kit smiled and gave Simon a pat on the back. "One day you two will learn to get along. Until then, we have work to do. At nightfall, which is in a couple hours, we need to check these places out."

**Aren't you guys glad I decided not to torture you? Chloe doesn't know that Derek is alive but at least you guys won't die not knowing.**

**Hopefully that wasn't too drawn out and boring but, thank you for reading. Did any one of you happen to notice anything that sounded like something you left in a review? If so, you're absolutely right. This is why it's so important for me to get reviews! One, they are inspiring and two, sometimes I get ideas from what you guys say in the review and boom! It's part of a chapter in the story. (In a way, you reviewers are writing my stories too. (My ideas change all the time, generally for the better, but that's why I am able to work in the ideas you guys give me.)) **

**That being said, reviews would be lovely. I'll even take a happy face of some sort just so I know you liked the chapter. But see I've got this goal for this chapter. I'm kind of, sort of, hoping for at least 15 reviews. I worked really hard on this chapter and I have never ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER written something this long. I would hate to not have my work appreciated. **

**(=^_^=)**


	4. Chaotic Thoughts

**Been a while hasn't it. A rather large stack of thank you notes should go out to those who reviewed…I have nothing else to say because my mindless dribble doesn't matter anyway.**

**Onward! To the Chapter!**

**Enjoy…or something.**

**Disclaimer: DP is not mine. We know this already.**

**Chaotic Thoughts**

**Chloe POV**

After some mild preparations for tonight- setting aside small essential items for that 'just incase' moment- I took a short nap. In truth, I hadn't meant to fall asleep. I only say on the couch and began to think. Spiraling deeper into thoughts I had no business treading near, I began to lose myself.

While Kit did a little research and Simon and Tori made their attempts at a civil conversation, I was following the shadows of memories down a dangerous path. A path that led to a lake of black water. The moonlight reflecting off the surface of the lake began to form words and scenes. My most precious memories. They spun around, beckoning me to look, remember and feel everything from the moments before me. And then they twisted, turning into nightmares. Strange, gnarled limbs began to rise from the water and take hold of me.

I was too far gone. Too deep into my memories to fight. So I let the limbs grab me off the safe and sure ground. Voices echoed in the forest surrounding the onyx lake. I couldn't understand a word. All I knew, all I felt, was the water of the lake around my body, the icy talons freezing my veins and my brain. Maybe this was how it was meant to be. I let out a sigh as I drowned in the darkness.

I awoke when I hit the floor. I couldn't decide whether it was the loud thud I made upon impact or the sever pain shooting up my arm that truly woke me. I was leaning towards the pain though.

As I sat on the floor clutching my throbbing arm and wondering how I had managed to fall from the couch when I had been in the seated position, my mind flooded with images of my bizarre dream…or maybe it was a nightmare. I couldn't decide. Maybe it simply fell in the middle of the two. What would that make it then?

I shook my head to clear some of the randomness that was my thoughts at the moment.

Sleep and I didn't seem to be on speaking terms today. I barely got any sleep last night and now there were images of drowning in black waters that took the form of my memories. Maybe I was losing my mind.

It has barely been a day since Derek and my aunt had been taken and my mind was already beginning to fray. Did I really have a psyche that delicate? I didn't think so. But maybe-

I felt two hands on my face then a loud voice invaded my ears.

"Chloe! What is wrong with you? Speak! Do something! Chloe!" It was Tori. I blinked and I felt like I was coming out of a strange trance. Her face came into focus. Her eyes were wildly moving about my face. I think she was searching for a sign of life but I wasn't really sure.

"Are you alive in there?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Yes." My voice cracked and I realized I was thirsty. It was a rather strange thing to think about considering the fact that Tori was in a state of panic. She was feeling my forehead now. Checking to see if I had a fever?

"What happened?" she asked still panicking.

"I'm not sure. I was dreaming…I think."

"You think? Well, isn't that nice?" She balled her shaking hands into fists and stood. "How did you end up on the floor?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No." I said slowly, "I remember sitting there, accidently falling asleep, drowning then waking up on the floor." I rubbed my arm. "With a minor injury."

She paused. The look she was giving me made me feel like I really had lost my mind. "Drowning?"

Maybe _this _was all a dream and soon I would wake up strapped to a bed in a mental hospital somewhere. I would start yelling about crazy scientists and a werewolf boyfriend and the nurses would come rushing in armed with my meds and some sedatives to send me back to la-la land.

"Never mind." I mumbled. I stood on my weak legs. Every part of my body felt weak, like I had just competed in a triathlon I wasn't prepared for. I stumbled in my first few steps and Tori rushed to my side, grabbing my semi-injured arm and going into another panicked fit.

I winced and peeled her hand from my arm. "Stop. You're making me nervous."

She almost laughed. Not the funny, ha-ha type of laugh. The one where someone can't believe the words that are leaving your mouth. The laugh that includes another crazy look and some sort of strange hand motions.

"_I _am making _you _nervous?" She gestured to herself then to me when she said I and you then she threw her hands up in the air. See, hand motions.

"That's what I said."

I glanced around the room and realized that Tori and I were alone. Honestly, I was surprised that I hadn't noticed before. Kit and Simon would have been hovering over me, possibly freaking out and wondering what happened if they had been here. Then again, I wasn't quite right this evening so that could explain why I didn't realize it before.

"Where did they go?"

She stared for a moment. Her mouth was gaping open and there was a deep crease between her brows like she was trying to figure out if someone had replaced me with a pod person of some sort.

Eventually, she answered and I took note of the reluctance in her voice. "They left. Went out to check out one of the places on the map."

"Oh." I reached for my jacket and my 'important goodies', which thankfully included a bottle of water. I doubted we would need anything we thought might be a good idea but with out lives, you never knew. "We should probably get going too."

She sputtered then huffed and I could tell she wasn't sure what was wrong with me. I would hate to tell her that made two of us. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." I unlatched the door and pulled it open.

"You're not fine."

I walked out, one unsure foot in front of the other, and didn't bother responding. What would I have said? I just had a dream that made me feel like I wasn't even human when I woke up? Yeah, that would go over real well. For now, this would be my secret.

**Edison Group HQ**

Derek sat in a black leather chair in Thorn's office. Dinner hadn't killed him yet but that didn't mean Derek was ready to trust the man before him. So he was still on edge. Still antsy. Thorn sat across from him, looking like a calm, confident lawyer about to schmooze his way into the hearts of the courtroom. Forget any evidence; he would win the case based solely on his attitude.

He sat with his hands clasped together on his desk and he stared at Derek with that calm, lawyer look. Then he smiled, a sick, twisted looking thing.

Derek was about to leap out of his char. Not from fear but from nerves. He was tense, his muscles locked in place for a pounce if need be.

Thorn leaned back in his chair and dropped his hands into his lap. "Relax." The word came out as a smooth sounding command and it fit perfectly with the lawyer persona. But, the command made Derek tense even more, if that was possible.

Thorn sighed then reached for a folder. "Derek Souza. This says age sixteen however, you are twenty one now, correct? The only werewolf to survive the Genesis II project. Taken away at age five by Kit Bae and his son Simon. You become a part of their family and live a semi-normal life. Until you break-"

"Where did you get that?" Derek growled through clenched teeth.

"You mean your file? The thing that contains all documentation of your life. To a point anyway." Thorn scratch his cheek. "I might have had a bit of help obtaining you and your family's files. A little extra strength to move some things I couldn't. Then I just had to break a few cabinets. It's a good thing there was paper documentation or it might have taken me a few more years to find you guys." The wicked smile returned. "It was simple really. It certainly pays to have a werewolf or two working for you."

Derek didn't respond but he was glaring daggers at Thorn.

"If looks could kill-" he laughed, "I would have died years ago. Now, I have a proposition for you. But first, a question. Are you more wolf or were?"

Derek's knuckles were white from gripping the arms of the chair so hard. His fingers dug into the leather. He wasn't sure what Thorn had planned but he knew he wasn't going to like it.

"I would assume that since you haven't gone for my throat yet that your wolf instincts take a backseat to your more human ones."

Again, Derek didn't respond. He didn't see much point in trying to reply anyway. Thorn would keep on talking no matter what Derek said.

"Now for my proposition. I want-"

"No. Whatever it is, no."

"What if I was going to say I want you to leave? To go home?" He shrugged. "Guess it's a good thing I wasn't. I guess if you won't even listen to me, I'll have to lock you up somewhere until you do. I'm thinking somewhere damp and dark, possibly made of stone. What do you think?"

**Chloe POV**

"That was a giant waste of time." Tori said dropping onto the desk chair.

"You said we should check the places out just incase and we all agreed." I reminded her.

"But we didn't find anything."

"Did you really think we would? You can't expect this to be instantaneous."

"But I want results." She ran her fingers through her hair before turning in her chair to get on Kit's computer.

"And I want my whole family safe and together but we can't all have what we want." I whispered before bolting to the bathroom.

Sometimes I wonder why I say the things I do. I was beginning to seem like a first class bitch. I was constantly forgetting that Derek and Aunt Lauren were their family too. Derek was a part of Kit's family before I even knew he existed and yet I acted like I was the only one who was hurting. And my aunt had slowly begun to worm her way into everyone's hearts in the past few years so Tori, Simon and Kit were missing her too.

The only thing that was in the building we checked out tonight was cobwebs and probably a few wild critters. If anyone had been using the building recently they did a good job of cleaning their stuff out and making the building dirty again.

I poked at the slight dark circles under my eyes. Deciding that I didn't want to look at myself, I plugged the drain in the sink and turned on the hot water. I watched the sink fill up, watched the steam fog up the mirror, watched my face slowly become a blur and for some strange reason I wanted to break that mirror.

Maybe it was the anger that had been slowly building since we came back from the library that was pushing me towards wanting to break hotel property. I was angry at whoever did this. Whoever planned this big, life shattering event. I hated this person, whoever they were. I hated that I didn't know what Derek's fate was, or my Aunt's for that matter. I hated not having any useful information. I hated…that I couldn't have a normal life.

Normal is a relative word. To a woman heading home to fix dinner for her family, normal is taking care of her kids and loving her husband and working to help make her children's lives better. To the cashier working in the grocery store that woman just left, normal is checking people out as they finish their shopping. It's seeing everyone who lives in you community and learning the quirks that make them who they are. To the elderly woman who just left that cashiers line, normal is going home every night to spend time with her husband. A husband who has cancer, who doesn't have much time left on this earth.

My normal doesn't even have a place in any of their worlds. I want what our society considers normal. The apple pie life kind of thing. I want to be able to go somewhere with Tori and Simon or Derek and not have to be looking over my shoulder all the time.

One the other hand, if I wasn't a supernatural I wouldn't even know all those people I want to be normal with. I wouldn't know what spending the last five years of my life with Derek was like. I wouldn't have the daily pleasure of getting a headache from Simon and Tori's bickering.

I sighed. This was stupid. All I was doing was running in circles with the same topics.

I turned to leave and almost ran into Simon.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see you start to cry." He offered me a tissue.

I reached up to touch my face.

"Didn't even realize it, did you?"

I shook my head and took the tissue. "How long have you guys been back?"

"A few minutes."

"Any luck?"

I watched the answer creep onto his face and sighed.

"We just have to keep looking." He replied. When I tried to push past him, he pulled me back and hugged me. "We'll find them. Don't worry."

I didn't say anything, just closed my eyes and returned his hug. I wanted to believe him so I nodded, hoping that he would be right when all was said and done.

**I think I am going to enjoy the way the story is going. I get a chance to explore some of my darker thoughts with this and that makes me happy. I hate being upbeat with my writing all the time. Especially since I'm not all that happy. You guys have fun with that.**

**Thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated but I'm not expecting much.**


	5. My One And Only

**Thanks for the reviews and all that my lovely readers. I appreciate them all. We are starting the chapter off with Derek. Enjoy.**

**I had the hardest time thinking of a title. So, you're going to see the title at the very end of the chapter because I pulled it from the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Is this necessary? I mean we all know I don't own DP.**

**My One And Only**

**Edison Group HQ- Underground holding cells**

Derek fought against Thorn's guard, pushing and shoving his weight against him and thrashing about like a mad man. Despite the pain he felt from his earlier beating, he fought, desperate to be free of these lunatics. Thorn followed, smirking and chuckling to himself as he watched Derek struggle.

"Just give in and he'll let you go." Thorn said in an almost happy tone.

"Never." Derek snarled. "I'm not some viscous, soulless creature like you. I won't work for you or do your dirty work. I won't do a damned thing for you. Ever. Do you understand that?"

"Such a pity." Thorn sighed as they reached the cell where Derek would be staying. "Enjoy your new living arrangements. I hope you find them to be wonderfully damp and dark."

Thorn's lackey jerked a cell door open and shoved Derek inside. He locked the cell, shoving the key into his pocket afterwards.

"I do hope you come to you senses soon." Thorn said before walking off with his guard in tow, the clicking of their shoes on stone echoing down the hallway.

Thorn hadn't been kidding. This place was damp, dark, made completely of stone and underground so no one even knew about it unless they were working for that mad man. But if Thorn wanted Derek to break, to give in to his whims, he would have to try harder than this. Derek had experienced being cold and damp before. Unless he got extremely sick from the conditions, which was highly unlikely, this wouldn't bother him.

Sleeping on the thin, worn out mattress on the floor could get old though. And only having a sink to use to bathe could potentially cause some problems.

"_At least there is a toilet", _Derek thought as he tugged on the cell door, hoping that it was as old and rusted as it looked so that, maybe, it would break.

"Derek?" A small feminine voice whispered.

He paused, hands still wrapped around the bars of the cell door. He knew that voice. His name came out rather hoarse but he still recognized that voice.

"Lauren?"

"Oh thank goodness!" she exclaimed before coughing.

"Are you alright?"

She cleared her throat. "Fine. I just haven't had anything to drink since they brought us here. I'm a bit parched."

"Have you eaten?"

"No."

Derek's grip tightened around the bars as he ground his teeth in frustration. This was wrong. Completely inhumane. And Thorn wondered why Derek wanted nothing to do with him and his schemes. He was insane. He treated people like they were animals.

A hand appeared on the floor outside of his cell. Tilting his head so he could see further into the hall, he saw Lauren reaching through the bars towards the bottom of her cell. She must have been sitting on the floor. Her hand was palm up and she curled her fingers like she wanted Derek to copy her actions.

He knelt, keeping in the small grunt of pain from how he felt when he put his knees on the floor and reached through the bars to take Lauren's hand.

"Did they hurt you?" She asked squeezing his hand.

"No." Derek replied. He didn't want Lauren to worry about him and what Thorn did. He could mask any pain he felt and then she wouldn't have to know about the beating he received earlier. "How about you? Did they harm you in anyway?"

Lauren gave a small laugh and he imagined she was smiling for some reason. "No, they didn't. Aside from not giving me anything to eat or drink today, I'm fine." She gave his hand another squeeze. "Thanks for wondering about my safety."

"You're family. I worry for my family. And I try to protect you as best I can. I failed this time though. I don't even know where Chloe, Simon, Tori or my Dad are. Don't have the slightest idea where they could be. If they are alive or-"

"You can't keep us all safe all the time. We have to watch our own backs too. You're only one person Derek. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

The only problem was that he truly could. Thorn wanted something from him, only him. Derek knew it, could feel it all the way to his bones. He just didn't know what Thorn wanted yet.

**Three weeks later - Chloe POV**

"Dammit!" Tori yelled. "Only more freaking dust bunnies!"

"Shh!" I elbowed her and she glared at me. "Just because what we are looking for isn't here doesn't mean we should let the whole block know that _we _are here."

The daggers she was glaring at me were about ready to go straight through my heart.

I knew she was angry. We all were. We'd been chasing dead ends for a couple weeks now and it was starting to get really old. None of us had been getting much sleep and we all snapped at the slightest irritant. Tori and Simon were arguing more than ever, so much so that Kit and I would just leave them now. We decided letting them battle was easier than getting everyone angry at one another. Everyone being mad at each other got us nowhere fast.

We still had work to do, family to find. But we were getting no where.

"Come on Tori. Let's go back to the hotel and tell them we didn't find anything."

"What else is new?" she grumbled thinking I didn't hear her.

My heart clenched at the words though. My breathing hitched and my throat grew tight. I needed my family to be whole again. I wanted my aunt back, safe and sound, with us. And I needed Derek back.

I realized that I couldn't sleep without him. Not a full, decent nights sleep anyway. I could usually get an hour or two before my nightmares started. But I was always awake before four. I needed his touch to comfort me and I needed him to tell me everything would be okay. That all was right in our messed up little world.

I needed someone who could hold me when I cried and not just stare, unsure of what to do, like Simon, Kit and Tori do. I wanted more than just my memories of Derek to keep me company and help me through the harder days.

I sighed and used my sweatshirt sleeve to wipe a few silently cried tears away as Tori drove us back to our hotel. It was almost ten and once we got back we would be going to bed so we could begin another unsuccessful search tomorrow.

When we arrived back at the hotel we weren't greeted by hopeful faces. They stopped being hopeful two weeks ago.

"No luck." Simon stated, saying that they had no luck and that he knew we didn't either.

"I'm going to take a bath and go to bed." I said quietly.

"Get more then a couple hours of sleep tonight." Kit said.

He said that to me every night. My progress on getting more than two hours was horrible though.

As I undressed and waited for the tub to fill with water I fingered the chain around my neck, remembering just a few weeks ago when everything seemed right. I moved my hand to stare at my ring. I slipped it off my finger and held it up to watch the light reflect off the oval diamond in the center. The triple diamond clusters on either side of the oval looked more like a city skyline instead of a gem as I moved the ring around in the light.

It was then I noticed the fancy lettering etched into the inside of the band. _'You're my one and only.' _

My throat grew tight and then began to hurt as I tried, unsuccessfully, to hold back my tears. With shaky hands, I set the ring on the bathroom counter.

"I will find you Derek." I whispered. "I think my sanity depends on it."

**Chapter 6 Preview**

"So, you've come to your sense have you Derek?" Thorn asked with a grin so evil on his face not even the devil himself could match it at the moment.

"I have." Derek said nodding. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

"Good." Thorn said with a laugh as he unlocked the door to Derek's cell.

"Derek! How could you do this?" Lauren yelled. "This isn't you! Please Derek, don't. This choice is wrong and you know it!"

Derek could tell Lauren was desperatly trying to get him to rethink his choice, but he had to do this. He only hoped she would understand.

**You guys are going to give me hell over that preview…I just know it. But hold on a little bit and you'll see where I'm going with that.**

**Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to add previews to all my stories since I want you guys to know that I actually do plan on continuing everything, plus the preview gives some added interest to the next chapter…I hope anyway. Sorry it's so short. If it wasn't though I would give way too much away and we really can't have that. Nope, nope, nope. **

**I almost made myself cry with this one guys...then again the music I listen to when I work on this story doesn't help.**

**Anywho, ignore my random thoughts and review please.**


	6. Difficult Decision

**Rawr! …Hi…So, this chapter is pretty short. I am a little stuck with the Chloe end of this. The last chapter, with the ring and all that, popped into my head as I was writing. I know exactly what I want to do with Derek's part and with Chloe's part three or four years from now (story time) but not present. So apologize for giving you something so short. But I found my muse! It starts with great pain, for some reason that always makes me more able to write...**

**Thanks for the reviews and all and thanks to the new people who favorited or added this to their story alerts.**

**Anywho, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: DP is not mine! AAHHHH!**

**Difficult Decision**

**EG Headquarters, Holding Cells**

With a heavy heart, Derek listened to Lauren coughing. Over the past few days she had started to get sick, probably from the dank conditions they were forced to live in. But, Derek was unsure of how to help her. If he did nothing and her condition went untreated she could get worse or, his worst fear at the moment, she could die. The only thing he could think of to save her was to accept Thorn's proposal, whatever it was, then he would be able to get her medicine and extra food and water each day.

What they were given each day was hardly enough to keep anyone alive. They were fed breakfast and dinner and everything they got was in the smallest portion possible. Derek's stomach was constantly rumbling because of the lack of food. But, he blew through calories too quickly. He was starting to lose weight and he knew Lauren was as well.

Derek heard the unmistakable sound of Thorn's key turning in the door leading to their cell block. He was paying his daily visit to his prisoners and coming to find out, once again, if Derek would accept his offer. Today the answer Thorn received would be different.

Derek stood and grasped the bars of his cell as he waited for Thorn to get to them. He took his time, like he was taking a leisurely walk through the park instead of coming to meet with his prisoners. It was torture on Lauren and Derek's nerves. But, Derek knew Thorn was sadistic and he enjoyed all forms of torture, even minor ones.

When Thorn finally reached them he stood in front of Derek's cell, always ignoring Lauren unless she spat an insult at him.

"Made up your mind yet?" He asked with a sick grin on his face.

Derek nodded. At the moment, he wished he had Chloe by his side to stop him from doing something so wrong. She was small in stature but mighty in heart and she always stopped him from doing the most dangerous and foolish of things.

But she wasn't here now. Derek was going to have to do whatever Thorn wanted if he ever wanted to see any part of his family again or help Lauren. It was for the greater good of his family. His only hope was that Thorn didn't want him to do anything too drastic or gruesome.

"So, you've come to your senses have you Derek?" Thorn asked with a grin so evil on his face not even the devil himself could match it at the moment.

"I have." Derek said nodding. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

"Good." Thorn said with a laugh as he unlocked the door to Derek's cell.

"Derek! How could you do this?" Lauren yelled. "This isn't you! Please Derek, don't. This choice is wrong and you know it!"

Derek could tell Lauren was desperately trying to get him to rethink his choice, but he had to do this. He only hoped she would understand.

Thorn led the way out of the holding cells, but as Derek passed Lauren he couldn't help but offer her a small smile and wink. Maybe she would understand that meant he wasn't making a wrong choice, just one to try to help everyone the best he could. She stopped wailing that what he was doing was wrong and slumped down against the wall again, hand covering her mouth as she looked at him with a horrified confusion.

He mouthed 'I'm sorry' and followed Thorn out and away from the cells.

**Chapter 7 Preview**

"Here is you key Derek." Thorn said handing him a rather old and plain looking key. "That is a skeleton key, you can open any door here, go anywhere in the building. I am the only other person with one."

"Great." Derek mumbled taking the key from Thorn's hand and stuffing it in his pocket.

"Do not lose it."

Derek only nodded.

"Now, do me a favor and go feed Lauren and the other prisoners, I tire of going down there everyday."

Derek ground his teeth, forcing himself to hold back from lashing out at Thorn. Derek had to do what he asked because he needed to earn Thorns trust. One day, Thorn would get what was coming to him, and it would be by Derek's hand. But he needed his trust first.

**Sorry it's so short! But like I said, I've got a block on the Chloe end right now. Derek's part of the story is almost worked out and if it wasn't for the fact that Derek's parts are often shorter I would just write them for my chapters but they would all be this length and we can't have that, no no no, we can't.**

**So, review the shortness please. I'll try to have some Chloe stuff next time too.**


	7. Just The Beginning

**It's stormy tonight so I decided to write for you guys instead of playing WoW like I normally do every night (Me=dork). **

**Thanks for the reviews you three. At least I wasn't expecting many so it's alright to have three, right? Anyways, this chapter is going to have some Chloe in it even if it is a little bit. Keep in mind that the story won't have progressed much on her end because it's only a day after the last time you read her side.**

**Disclaimer: Again I say, DP does not belong to me. Just this stupid, probably not so worth it anymore idea does.**

**Just The Beginning **

**Edison Group HQ**

Derek followed Thorn back to the room he was in a few weeks ago. The one Thorn brought him to after he'd 'rescued' him from being tortured any further.

"This will be your room. You've got the basics, a bed, a dresser and a mirror. If you want anything else, let me know and I'll make someone go get whatever you want."

"You can't get me what I want and even if you could, you wouldn't let me have it."

Thorn pressed his lips together in a thin line, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame. "Hmm…this is true. Anyway, bathroom is down the hall and you know where the dining area is. Explore the building as you please, just don't leave. The consequences won't be pretty, a bit like a blood stain on stone if you catch my drift."

"Uh, yeah."

Thorn reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and metal. "Here is your key Derek." Thorn said handing him a rather old and plain looking key. "That is a skeleton key, you can open any door here, go anywhere in the building. I am the only other person with one."

"Great." Derek mumbled taking the key from Thorn's hand and stuffing it in his pocket.

"Do not lose it."

Derek only nodded.

"Now, do me a favor and go feed Lauren and the other prisoners, I tire of going down there everyday."

Derek ground his teeth, forcing himself to hold back from lashing out at Thorn. Derek had to do what he asked because he needed to earn Thorns trust. One day, Thorn would get what was coming to him, and it would be by Derek's hand. But he needed his trust first.

If Thorn's threats had any truth to them, Derek would definitely need his trust. He would need to lure Thorn in a false sense of security. He needed to make Thorn think that he would do anything asked of him so Thorn would lower his defenses around him.

It was the only way Derek could think of to try to get out of this stone fortress from hell.

Sighing, Derek left his 'room' and went to find the kitchen to find food and medicine for Lauren. He would investigate the rest of the prison after he made sure she was taken care of.

**Chloe POV**

"Come on, Chloe. Get out of bed." Tori yanked the blankets away from my body and I rolled over and curled up into a ball. I didn't want to get up. I didn't want to go out and have the little bit of hope I had left crushed from investigating places that no one would be stupid enough to hide such an evil operation in. Today, I wanted to stay in our hotel room and reminisce on good times.

Times when my aunt and Derek were still around to make our family whole.

"Go without me today and if you find anything worthwhile come get me."

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Tori move away from me and for a second I thought they would all leave without me.

But Tori had another idea. "You guys go ahead, I'm staying with Chloe."

"You sure?" Simon asked pulling the door to our room open.

"Yes. We need to have a talk, me and her."

"Alright. We'll call if we find anything."

Once they were gone she plopped down on the other side of my bed. "So, would you like me to go get some ice cream. You know, for the stereotypical girl bonding moment that's bound to happen today.

I smiled. I couldn't help it.

"Ah-ha, there is hope for you're day after all! I'll be back shortly. You better at least be sitting up when I return." She bounced off the bed and was out the door in a few seconds.

**Edison Group HQ- Holding Cells**

Derek unlocked the door to the cell block he'd been in less than an hour ago and grabbed the tray he'd prepared for Lauren. Every step he took echoed down the corridor but even over the sound of his footsteps he could hear Lauren moving, whether it was away from the bars or towards them, he didn't know yet.

"Lauren, I brought food, water and something for your cough."

"Derek," she sighed. "Why did you accept his offer?"

"It was the only way I could think of to help you and try to find a way out of this place."

"As long as he doesn't corrupt you."

"He won't, don't worry. Now eat. I'm going to do a bit of exploring around this place, starting with the other three cell blocks."

**Chapter 8 Preview**

"Hello?" A weak, dry voice called out in the darkness of the corridor of the cell block next to Lauren's.

Derek followed the sound until he reached the sixth cell in the corridor.

The man in the cell backed away from the bars and pulled his legs closer to his frail body. "Who are you? Have they finally sent someone to kill me?"

"No. I'm Derek. Who are you? Is there anything I can do to help?"

There was no harm in asking or trying to do something for a man who was clearly an enemy of Thorn. The enemy of an enemy is a friend after all…most of the time.

"I'm Robert and the one thing you can do for me is kill that bastard Thorn."

**I know, I know…Chloe's part is really short (kind of like the whole chapter!) but it kind of shows she is already starting to fall apart…few people know how she will be later on…*insert evil laugh***

**Anyways, as usual, ignore my craziness but please, please, please review.**


	8. Threats In An Already Ruined World

**Thanks for those four reviews. Again, I'm not expecting many…ever. Though I am hoping that I get a lot, even if they are nice and angry reviews, in the next five chapters or so. **

**I've decided I like writing from Derek's part of the story more than Chloe's. Makes for a better story right now anyway.**

**Anyways, you guys will hate me so much later. Ah, I love my idea. Anyways, enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: DP= not mine…no really? Never would have guessed Kelley Armstrong owned the rights to it all.**

**Threats In An Already Ruined World**

"Be careful Derek," Lauren said reaching through the bars of her cell and grabbing Derek's hand. "We don't know what he is capable of."

Derek nodded. "I know and I will be." He squeezed her hand before letting go and heading back down the corridor, towards the door. "I'll be back later," he called before stepping into the hall.

"Now to start exploring," Derek mumbled to himself. Being down here after just being released from his cell an hour ago didn't sound like a good plan. He highly doubted that he would find anything interesting or worth while, aside from more people he might have to save. The idea of there being more people he would need to help escape hung heavy on his conscience. Derek wasn't even sure how he would get himself and Lauren out, let alone other people.

Depending on how long others had been locked up would say how difficult it would be to get them out. If they all had the same diets he and Lauren had, they would be too weak to do much of anything at all.

Sighing in disgust, Derek walked to the door at the end of the hall. A few deep breaths and some mental preparation for something potentially horrible and Derek unlocked the door. Musty air wafted out of the corridor and bathed him in the scent as the hinges creaked and the metal door swung open. There were ten cells in each corridor, all identical to the one Derek had been in. A few dim lights hung from the ceiling.

He didn't hear anything or anyone. Not even the sound of someone breathing, which led him to believe there was no one in any of these cells. A quick glance into each one told him he was right.

Derek sighed, relieved that at least one cellblock was completely empty. He checked the next one and found the same thing. Absolutely nothing but damp air and dust.

However, as soon as he opened the door to the next cellblock, he knew it was different than the other two. He could smell something other than the dampness that he smelled in the other two cellblocks. And that something was a person.

"Hello?" A weak, dry voice called out in the darkness of the corridor of the cell block next to Lauren's.

Derek followed the sound until he reached the sixth cell in the corridor.

The man in the cell backed away from the bars and pulled his legs closer to his frail body. "Who are you? Have they finally sent someone to kill me?"

"No. I'm Derek. Who are you? Is there anything I can do to help?"

There was no harm in asking or trying to do something for a man who was clearly an enemy of Thorn. The enemy of an enemy is a friend after all…most of the time.

"I'm Robert and the one thing you can do for me is kill that bastard Thorn."

"What?" Derek took a step away from the cell bars.

"Are you deaf? I said kill Thorn. My brother must be killed for there to ever be any peace in our world."

* * *

Tori and I sat on my bed, eating Ben & Jerry's Ice cream, laughing and sharing memories from before we were all separated, when Kit and Simon opened the door to our room, a look of concern on both of their faces.

"Was someone here recently?" Kit asked.

"I don't think so." Tori said leaning to her left and setting her ice cream on the end table between the beds. "Why do you ask?"

Kit stepped into the room, Simon followed and closed the door behind him. "I ask because this was on the door," he said holding up a note. Simon proceeded to lock the door and check to make sure the windows were locked. "And it was stuck to the door with this." He held up a small knife. "I don't know about you two, but I think this is meant to be a threat."

The moment of fun Tori and I had was now completely gone and I was filled with a terrible sense of dread. "What does the note say?"

Kit held the note up and began to read. "He's safe. But, you need to get your noses out of places they do not belong. I'm watching you and I know every move you make."

"What does that even mean?" Tori asked. I wasn't sure if the others noticed or not, but the tone of Tori's voice made me think she was actually pretty scared. I couldn't blame her though. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating. Whoever left this wasn't a friend of our and they came within ten feet of Tori and I. Only the wall of our room had separated us. A shiver ran through my body.

"I'm not sure but we need to be even more careful now than before."

I moved off the bed and snuck a look at the note. It was typed, the only writing in pen was the T signed at the end.

* * *

Derek's head reeled at the new information he learned from Robert. Thorn was even more cruel that he had originally thought. He locked his own brother, his twin no less, in one of those cells because he hadn't agreed with the way Thorn viewed the world and it's inhabitants.

So, Thorn locked Robert away where he wouldn't have to look at him or hear his complaints about the way he treated people. Derek learned that Thorn had even been contemplating killing his wife because she wanted to leave him, before she took her own life. Thorn was a sadistic person. He always had been, according to Robert. He was very seldom capable of loving another person and whenever he did, that love would turn to hatred very quickly.

Derek had opted out of hearing all of Robert's horror stories about his brother. He had offered to bring Robert some food but he refused. He said wait another day and to always be careful when bringing something to the cells. Thorn was sneaky too. He would find out if someone were going to cross him.

Derek hoped Robert wasn't trying to trick him. He needed an ally and Robert would be the perfect person for that task.

Sighing, Derek went to his room. He wanted to be alone to have some time to think everything over. He would explore the rest of the building later, maybe once everyone was sleeping.

When he opened the door to his room he expected the room to be empty. However, there was a woman standing in the center of the room with her back to him. Her long, straight red hair hung down to the middle of her back and she stood with her hands on her hips. "How plain and boring," Her voice was as smooth as silk. "Have you always lived this way?" She asked smiling as she turned to face Derek.

She was thin and maybe four inches shorter than Derek. She was beautiful, with the face of a pixie and an impish smile. Her hazel-blue eyes focused on Derek with a look so fierce he felt the need to turn away. He didn't though. This stranger didn't need to have any kind of power over him and turning away would have let her know she had gotten to him with just a look. She smoothed her hands over her black pencil skirt before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who are you?" Derek's question was short, his tone bitter.

Her smiled faded and she pressed her red lips into a thin line. "You don't have to sound so rude Derek. I'm Lilith." She moved to sit on Derek's bed. "Come, sit with me and let's talk."

Derek, still almost glaring at this newcomer, shook his head. "Let's not."

"Aw, Derek, I don't bite." Her smile was meant to be seductive. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, exposing the left side of her neck. "Well, actually, I do sometimes. Only when I'm asked to though."

"Leave," Derek said motioning to the doorway. He didn't know what she was playing at with her attempts at flirting, but he wanted no part of it. He only wanted her to leave.

After a minute of staring at each other, Lilith took the hint that Derek didn't want her in his room. Sighing, she stood and headed to the door. But she couldn't help saying one more thing before leaving him alone.

"Sometimes Thorn isn't around to get what you want, like right now for example. He is out running a few errands. So, if you ever need anything, and I mean absolutely anything, don't hesitate to come find me." She smiled one more time before closing the door and leaving.

Derek didn't miss the double entendre in her final statement.

**Chapter 9 Preview**

Derek left Lauren's cell and went to Robert's cell block to bring him his food.

As soon as he unlocked the door, he immediately knew something was different today. There was a woman sitting on her knees in front of Robert's cell and she was talking to him. When she noticed Derek had opened the door, she turned, a look of shock and horror on her face until she realized who entered the corridor.

"Derek, oh thank goodness. I thought you were Thorn for a moment."

Derek looked the woman over for a few seconds before speaking. The red hair, red lipstick and thin body type reminded him a lot of- "Lilith? What are you-"

"I'm not Lilith. My name is Melena."

**I'm evil. 'Nuff said. Review please.**


	9. Reflections Through An Opposite Self

**Okay…a HUGE thank you to burning and suzi1811. And to my Anon reviewer. Your review made me laugh so hard and loud I scared some of my rabbits. One of them even flipped her feed dish in her minor freak out.**

**I want more reviews this time though…seriously…if I don't get more I'll give Lilith what she wants. Maybe you guys will give me some reviews then.**

**Hopefully you guys don't get confused.**

**Disclaimer: DP…not mine. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Blech.**

**Reflections Through An Opposite Self**

Thorn sat down in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. He was sure he had terrified Derek's family with his threatening note. They weren't much closer to finding this hideout after all the time they had spent looking, then they were when his men captured Lauren and Derek. He had been hoping to get Derek, Tori and Chloe with that ambush but he would settle for only having Derek. He would have to figure out some way to make Lauren useful though.

He left the note, hoping to throw them off and scare them into hiding for a little bit. It wouldn't matter if they tried to keep themselves hidden though, Thorn would always be able to keep an eye on them. He had friends in high and low places and they had reports for him whenever he wanted them.

Sighing, Thorn began to think about his past. His brother had always been the one their parents doted on. He was left to do things by himself. It was just like in the wild when an animal could sense something was wrong with one of it's children. His parents left him to his own devices, turning him into an even more screwed up child than he already was, because they seemed to think he had a problem. Not that they were wrong. The only reason he had never been committed to a mental health facility was because everyone was terrified of him.

He didn't need to be a sorcerer to scare people. He just had to be himself.

When he met Ahvia, he thought for a few months he would know what happiness was. They married far too quickly and moved in together. But once he began to have dreams about how he could kill her, everything started to change. To see her blood on his hands…

Thorn sighed. Those were some very interesting dreams he would have liked to have played out in real life. They continued for months and eventually Ahvia caught onto his thoughts and decided she wanted to leave him. She was too terrified to try to move out though. She instinctively knew that if she left, Thorn would find her and fulfill his fantasies.

That was when the verbal and physical threats on her life started. Instead of just dreaming about killing her, he would toy with her. Some nights he would hold a knife to her throat while she slept and wait for her to wake up just to see the fear in her eyes. When she was fixing dinner he would play with a different knife every night and a few times he would go so far as to ask what she thought it would be like to have one of them dig into her skin. She probably should have thrown their set of knives out.

Finally, she took her own life because she couldn't handle life with him anymore. He watched her take half their medicine cabinet and didn't do a thing to stop her.

He actually did love her for a little while but that love didn't last long.

Thorn knew he was messed up but he couldn't help but enjoy being crazy.

The door to his office swung open to reveal Lilith, holding a plain white mug. "Coffee?" she asked stepping in his office and kicking the door closed. "Made fresh a few minutes ago. Hazelnut creamer and two spoons of sugar, just the way you like it." She set the mug down on the edge of his desk. "So, when I went to visit Derek, he kicked me out of his room."

"Why did he kick you out?" His tone made him sound like he was completely bored by her chatter.

Lilith shrugged. "He's attached to his woman and he can't even be near her. He's away from the ones he loves and stuck with people that he hates. I'm sure he just wanted to be alone."

"Lilith," Thorn said in a low, warning tone, "Don't throw yourself at him. Don't be the filthy person you love to pretend to be." He knew Lilith had an agenda of her own where Derek was concerned. She had found him attractive from the moment she laid eyes on him.

"You are no fun," she said pouting.

She usually got a mans attention through a lot of flirting and by using her lithe body to her advantage. A little extra swing to her hips and a mysterious smile and guys were putty in her hands. Add in her favorite seductive tone of voice and they were melting through her finger and kissing her feet.

"Never have claimed to be fun," Thorn said sounding a bit distant. It was like he was off in his own little world again.

"What are you thinking about?" Lilith asked.

"Derek and his family."

"What about them?"

"They are the type of family I wish I could have. Except I know I am not normal enough to ever truly know that life. Or to fully enjoy it."

Lilith leaned against the edge of his desk. "Normal is a relative term."

"But sane is not."

She shrugged then sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. You are a crazy bastard-" Thorn clenched his hand into a fist, unclenched it then reached for the coffee mug. "But, when you let this side of yourself out, you are not really that bad. Most of the time. Problem is you anger too quickly and you enjoy seeing pain in others more than you enjoy the company of a good person."

Thorn sighed. "Leave Lilith. I don't like to hear about myself. Go bother someone else."

"I know," she said. "Enjoy your coffee." She was gone in a matter of seconds leaving Thorn all alone with his past.

* * *

Lilith stood outside of Thorn's office a few moments longer before sighing and heading to her room. Sometimes he was capable of compassion…but it wasn't very often. He was like a child with a magnifying glass burning up ants on a sunny day. Pain and suffering were far too much fun for him.

As soon as she reached her room and closed the door, she began to undress and change into a tee shirt and shorts. She wished she could dress that way all the time but Thorn had some strict rules he wanted everyone to live by and wearing beautiful, flattering clothing was one of them. She had a feeling that he wouldn't hold Derek to those rules though.

At the thought of Derek, Lilith smiled. She wished she had met a guy like him when she was in high school. Sexy, fiercely loyal to those he trusted and faithful to the one he loved.

But, here she was, two years after high school and the only guys she ever came into contact with were Thorn and his men. Most of them were thugs.

The only reason she stayed here and helped Thorn was because he helped her when she was at the lowest point of her life. She would forever be in his debt for pulling her out of the gutter, so to speak.

Her smiled faded as she turned to her mirror to take off her make up. She hated that stuff too.

She was never girly like her sister. She liked to be a little more plain but there was a certain aspect of having an identical twin that she really enjoyed. The part where they could trick people into thinking they were talking to the opposite sister. So, they generally dressed alike, wore their hair the same way and did their make up the same, just because they could.

Deception was something she enjoyed.

Lilith crawled into her bed and tried her best to sleep. She was sure Thorn would have some odd task for her to take care of in the morning.

**Chloe**

I sat cross-legged in my bed, the blankets pulled up around my shoulders. The room was dark and everyone else was attempting to get some sleep before we packed up and moved again.

We had decided not to move to another hotel until morning. If we were being watched we needed to portray a calm that none of us really felt. It had been five or six hours since we got that note and every now and then I caught Tori involuntarily shaking. Simon and Kit had constantly been looking through the peephole in the hotel room door to see if anyone suspicious was hanging around outside.

I, however, was experiencing moments of complete lucidity. We had to be getting close to finding my aunt and Derek if we were being threatened this way. If we weren't close, this T person was just toying with us. Watching and waiting for our reaction to his threat.

I didn't want to offer any of my thoughts to Kit, Simon or Tori while they were still so on edge. No matter how you look at it, neither of my ideas on the situation were that good.

I slid from my bed to quickly check the window lock and door locks one more time before crawling back into bed and attempting to get some sleep of my own. After all, it was a little after one in the morning.

* * *

Derek stole another glance at the digital clock on his dresser. 4:51. He couldn't sleep anymore. There were too many things bombarding his mind tonight. What Thorn's plans were and why he felt the need to have his brother locked up. Who that Lilith woman was and why she had to leave her scent all over his room. Since she sat on his bed, he could still smell her there and he hardly slept because of it.

It was an odd scent. Slightly sweet and fruity but it was irritating his senses. It wasn't what he was used to. In recent weeks he had become used to the dank smell of the cells underground.

Giving up on getting anymore sleep, he slid out of bed, went to the bathroom to bathe and then made the choice to investigate the rest of the building for a little while before fixing food for Lauren and Robert. He had decided against investigating last night because he didn't want to deal with anymore surprises from people he hadn't met. He didn't know anyone here but they all knew who he was. To be quite honest, most people he had met here were outcasts. Even in the supernatural world they were considered strange and he didn't want to run into any of them while he was snooping around.

The building was rather large. Derek wasn't exactly sure how no one was suspicious of a building that probably looked something like a fortress but he had never seen the outside of the building to know how Thorn was pulling that off. Maybe a spell of sorts. If Thorn was as powerful as he claimed, it wouldn't take much effort to cloak the place.

Derek felt like he would need a map to navigate the whole building though. Most rooms that people would use frequently, like the bedrooms and the kitchen, were in one centralized location but there were many hallways that Derek would have to follow and see where they took him. He wasn't exactly sure what he would find but he was sure he would need the key Thorn gave him.

Maybe he would get lucky and find a way out.

And maybe pigs would grow wings and learn to fly.

Derek explored one hallway for about half an hour. The hallway seemed to go on forever and each room he came across was unlocked. He figured it was because there was literally nothing in them. They were just average sized rooms with grey walls and white tile floors. Derek was wondering what the rooms were used for when caught a whiff of Lilith's scent and he heard that smooth, silky voice.

"Good morning, Derek."

He barely glanced at her.

"Care to join me for breakfast?"

"No."

"Aw, no fair. I made French toast."

Derek turned to Lilith. She looked exactly the same as she did yesterday- straight hair, red lipstick- the only difference was what she was wearing. Today she was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a white long sleeved shirt. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"No. Not really. I just figured you would want breakfast. French toast is my favorite."

Derek didn't say anything.

"Oh, come on," Lilith said grabbing Derek's arm and tugging, "The food won't kill you."

"And I'm supposed to trust you?" He jerked his arm back, out of her grasp.

"You should but I know you don't. It's not like I poisoned the food. I wouldn't be able to eat it if I had. So, just come eat with me. We can talk, get to know each other."

Lilith smiled.

"I get it. You don't like me, don't want to know me, could care less whether I lived or died etcetera. But while you're here, try to be civil. If you're hungry, come eat. If you take too long the food will get cold and your breakfast will be ruined. You're choice." She turned on her heals and marched away.

Against his better judgment, Derek followed. Maybe he could learn something from her.

After an hour of listening to her talk, he had learned nothing to help his situation. The only thing he learned was that she followed a pattern when she spoke to him. She would flirt for a little while, making Derek ignore her even more than he had been. Then she would start telling him different things about herself and asking him questions, that he wouldn't answer. Once she got tired of him not responding, she cleaned their plates up and the left the kitchen without another word.

Derek watched her walk away, all the while thinking that she had to be the most peculiar person he had ever met.

After a few minutes of contemplating what he would do next, Derek began to prepare something to eat for Lauren and Robert. Then he headed down to their cells. He had wanted to talk to Lauren but when he got to her cell, he discovered she was sleeping. He left her food by her cell just incase she wanted it when she woke up.

Derek left Lauren's cell and went to Robert's cellblock to bring him his food.

As soon as he unlocked the door, he immediately knew something was different today. There was a woman sitting on her knees in front of Robert's cell and she was talking to him. When she noticed Derek had opened the door, she turned, a look of shock and horror on her face until she realized who entered the corridor.

"Derek, oh thank goodness. I thought you were Thorn for a moment."

Derek looked the woman over for a few seconds before speaking. She was wearing tan pants and a long sleeved, white silk shirt. The red hair, red lipstick and thin body type reminded him a lot of- "Lilith? What are you-"

"I'm not Lilith. My name is Melena."

"Melena? There's two of you?" Derek asked. He could hardly deal with one.

"Yes. She's my twin."

"Twins are the thing here," Robert said sarcastically.

Melena glanced at Robert before looking back at Derek. "You brought him food?" She smiled. "Oh, thank you. You are more gutsy than me. I'm so scared that Thorn will kill me if I try to help Robert." She turned back to Robert, a look of adoration plainly written on her face.

"Here," Derek said bringing Robert's food to Melena and setting it down to her right.

"Thank you," Robert said with a lopsided grin. That action alone made him different than Thorn. Robert smiled and truly was feeling joy when he did it. Thorn smiled only when he was causing harm to someone.

Melena looked back up to Derek. "Meet me in the kitchen around noon. We need to have a talk. Clearly you have met Lilith but, unlike her, my loyalty doesn't lie with Thorn."

**No Preview this time. Sorry. Not like I don't have something to give you for a preview but I am choosing to keep it all to myself this time. Ha, Ha, Ha…**

**Now, don't take my Lilith threat lightly. I will do exactly what I mentioned in the beginning author's note if I don't get a decent amount of reviews…should be fun. Y'all will hate me later anyways, might as well add more seasoning to the big pot of hate stew I'm cooking right now.**

**Review please.**


	10. Nothing Is Ever Easy

**I'd been hoping to have this done on Saturday…clearly that didn't happen.**

**So…thanks for the reviews. Can't wait until summer is over…maybe this no review thing will end. There is still hope for a non existent romantic relationship between Derek and Lilith. Just have to have people give me their opinions of what is getting updated. It's simple really. I am kind of liking the idea though…so I might just do it anyway, just because I feel like it.**

**Anyway, enjoy or not. Whatever.**

**Disclaimer: DP is Kelley Armstrong's, not mine. Not like we didn't know that already or anything.**

**Nothing Is Ever Easy**

**Chloe**

"Is that everything?" Kit asked loading our bags into our vehicle.

"I think so." Simon said glancing at Tori and I. "You guys have everything?"

We nodded in unison.

"Alright, let's get out of here then."

I watched Simon walk around to the front of the Tahoe and climb in the passenger seat. He seemed to have adopted Derek's scowl and usual bad attitude. I had watched him change from the fun loving goof we all loved to laugh with to this hardened, generally angry man and I hated it.

Kit and Tori copied Simon's actions.

The hairs on the back of my neck instantaneously stood up and I began looking around for a cause. I felt as thought we were being watched and when I turned I noticed a woman wearing a black hooded sweatshirt sitting on a bench, staring at us. She was hunched over but the angle of her body and the way her head was turned let me know that she was the reason I suddenly had this feeling.

When she caught me staring she jumped up from the bench and began to dig around in her pockets like she was looking for something. When she pulled something relatively small and black out of her pants pocket she turned her back to me.

"Chloe, come on. We have to go," Simon said. Even his voice had turned hard and commanding.

I glanced back at the woman one more time before reluctantly getting in the SUV.

* * *

Derek stood in the kitchen waiting for Melena. He was a few minutes early and he expected her to actually be late. The way she had been acting with Robert, like she never wanted to leave his side even when she had to, made him thinks she wanted to spend the rest of the day with him. It reminded him a lot of how he was with Chloe.

Melena walked into the kitchen right as the clock struck noon. The look of slight shock on Derek's face made her smile.

"I'm always punctual. Are you one those people who is always early? Or were you just expecting me to be late so you came early so you could tell me how long you've been standing here?"

Derek gave her a puzzled look. "Neither?"

Shaking her head, Melena said, "I was kidding."

She glanced over Derek from head to toe. Her expression was one of intrigue rather than lust but the look still made him nervous. But, Melena was quick to catch onto his thoughts.

"Relax. I have no intention of trying to jump your bones like my sister. I am merely assessing you. Everyone here, we all know who you are, what your life has been like, I was just seeing if you live up to how everyone describes you. If you were to fall short, getting rid of Thorn would prove to be a bit complicated."

"You know you are a bit confusing right?"

"Only because I haven't explained anything yet. See, Robert has a plan. It wasn't until he met you that he knew his plan to kill his brother would work but he's had the plan none the less."

"How do I fit into it?"

"You, my unfortunate friend, must befriend Thorn and earn his trust. Robert and I can do the rest."

"I had already planned on earning his trust."

"Did you have a plan pertaining to what you would do once you had it?"

Derek shook his head.

"Well, at least we were almost on the same page. Earning his trust will take awhile though. And unfortunately for you, befriending my sister will put you in the right direction with Thorn."

"Why?"

"The reason is her business to share with whoever she wants, not mine. However, I can say he pulled her out of a bad spot in her life and offered her a new life here."

"What about you? You said your loyalty doesn't lie with Thorn. It's obvious it lies with Robert. But how did you wind up here too?"

Melena shrugged. "She's my sister. My twin. We are always together. We are all the other has had since we were nine. My loyalty is split now though. I'm torn between Robert and Lilith. I love them both and I don't think I will be able to choose one over the other. That's another reason I would like you to befriend my sister. Maybe she will see the error of her ways if she has one true friend, aside from me."

Melena caught Derek's look before his face turned to a mask of impassiveness. It could be summed up in three simple words. You are crazy.

"I know you don't want to Derek but please, give her a chance. We are very much alike, her and I. Clearly you can tolerate being in my presence, just give her a chance."

"And when she tries to grope me? Do I just let her? Because that doesn't sit well with me."

Melena's face turned bright red. It was the first time Derek saw her perfect image falter a bit. She wouldn't look him in the eye and she started to fiddle with a string holding a button onto her shirt. "N-no. I would never ask you to do that. I know you have Chloe and that you love her very much. Just brush Lilith off nicely and try to talk to her instead of letting her-" her voice became even quieter than it had been. "-grope you," she finished.

"Sorry," Derek said quietly, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Still staring at the floor, Melena replied, "It's okay. I kind of led myself into that one. If Lilith tries anything, do what I said. She just…has a bit of a problem. When she finds something she wants, especially a guy she finds attractive, she goes after it. She bursts in, guns blazing, and takes out anyone in the way of the aforementioned want."

"Great. Sounds like I don't have a chance with pushing her away from me."

Melena shrugged and turned her gaze back to Derek. "Maybe you do, maybe you don't."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring."

"Sorry. I wish I could help you more where she is concerned. She might be my sister, but she is her own person. I can't make her do, or not do, anything. So, befriend her. It'll put you one step closer to earning Thorn's trust and one step closer to giving us the opportunity to kill him."

"Is that the only plan we have?"

"Basically. I'll let you know if we come up with one that involves keeping my sister at an arms length for you but just go with that for now. Okay?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Thank you," Melena said with a smile. "I'll talk with you later. I need to go find Lilith and try to convince her to tone down her flirting just a bit. That probably won't make her stop though." Melena turned and left the kitchen.

Derek took note of how perfect her posture was when she was standing and walking. She almost seemed to be a completely different person than her sister. Almost like they never even grew up together or shared the same experiences. It was weird how two people could be identical in looks but not in personality. Where Melena was a bit stiff but friendly, Lilith was loose, having characteristics closer to a streetwalker rather than a prep school student like her sister had. Twins or not, at the moment Derek thought they couldn't be anymore different from one another.

Leaning against the marble counter, Derek contemplated what he would do next. There didn't seem to be anything to do in this place unless you were running errands for Thorn. He considered investigating another seemingly random hallway but decided that he wanted to have a chat with Thorn rather than go digging through old dusty rooms with nothing in them. Before he came back into the kitchen to meet Melena, he had been nosing around down one of the hallways and he had found nothing important or interesting. Just more empty rooms that seemed to have no purpose.

Derek's only problem now was finding Thorn in the maze the man seemed to call home.

**Review! Or don't…I actually don't have the time to care right now. This is the last update before I go to my county fair. No internet there so all week all I can do is write and not update anything. Hope you enjoyed this last update, there won't be another one until like the 21st**** or 22****nd**** of this month (hopefully). **


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